DEC    2    1981 

:>fOL06ICALSt^:^ 

BS2fc58 


PAUL;  A  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


By  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer 


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^RV  OF  PRlNCfJ- 
PAUL    (        °^^    2    1981 

A  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


BY  THB  REV, 


'  '  '^^^^    ^  P    B.   MEYER,   B.A. 


^  Ctfiiif  Churchy  Westmintter  Bridge  Road^  Lond»H 


New  York  Chicag^o  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


Copyright,  1897, 

by 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company, 


THE  CAXTON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK. 


CONTENTS 


PA<» 

I.  Pre-natal  Grace 9 

II.  "When  I  Was  a  Child" „ , 17 

III.  Separated  from  the  Birth 28 

IV.  "Thy  Martyr,  Stephen" 37 

V.  A  Light  from  Heaven 47 

VI.  The  Inner  Revelation  of  Christ 59 

VII.  The  Emergence  of  the  Life  Purpose 70 

VIII.  "Always  Led  in  Triumph" 79 

IX.  The  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles 86 

X.  "Fourteen  Years  Ago" 95 

XI.  The  Conflict  of  Paul's  Life 103 

XII.  A  Lesson  of  Guidance 113 

XIII.  "Ye  Philippians" 119 

XIV.  From  Philippi  to  Athens 128 

XV.  "In  Weakness  and  Fear" 135 

XVI.  More  than  a  Conqueror 144 

XVII.  Gathering  Clouds 154 

XVIII.  The  Furtherance  of  the  Gospel 161 

XIX.  "  More  Abundantly  than  they  All" 169 

XX.  "In  a  Strait,  Betwixt  Two" 181 

XXI.  "How  Large  Letters" 190 


PREFACE 


OF  the  many  Sacred  Biographies  I  have  written,  this 
has  been  by  far  the  most  interesting.  For  days  and 
weeks  together  I  have  lived  in  the  company  of  this  glorious 
man ;  but  only  to  feel  that  he  transcended  all  one's  loftiest 
conceptions.  Like  some  great  mountain  range,  the  more 
his  character  is  traversed,  the  more  it  grows  on  the  imag- 
ination. 

In  these  chapters  I  have  used  the  Epistles  more  largely 
than  the  Acts,  as  I  desired  to  describe  his  life  from  within, 
and  as  it  appeared  to  himself.  In  many  cases,  therefore, 
the  historical  has  been  subordinated  to  the  auto-biograph- 
ical. 

I  have  taken  advantage  of  some  of  the  latest  books  which 
have  dealt  with  this  subject ;  but  for  the  most  part  the  fol- 
lowing pages  contain  the  essence  of  years  of  my  own  think- 
ing and  preaching.  Such  as  they  are,  I  send  them  forth, 
trusting  that  they  may  incite  many  to  follow  Paul  as  he  fol- 
lowed Christ ;  and  to  yield  themselves,  as  he  did,  to  God. 

F.  B.  Meyer. 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  PAUL, 

AS   GIVEN   BY   ALFORD. 

A.D. 

Stephen  Stoned 37 

Paul's  Conversion 37 

First  Journey  to  Jerusalem 40 

First  Missionary  Journey 45 

Great  Meeting  at  Jerusalem 50 

Second  Missionary  Journey 51 

Paul  Arrives  at  Corinth 53 

Third  Missionary  Journey 54 

Paul  at  Ephesus 55 

Imprisonment  in  CiESAREA 58 

Two  Years  in  Rome 61-63 


Paul:  a  servant  of  jesus  christ 


Ipre-natal  ©race 

(I  Timothy  i.  14.) 

••  A  city  throned  upon  the  height  behold, 
Wherein  no  foot  of  man  as  yet  has  trod; 
The  City  of  man's  Life  fulfilled  in  God— 
Bathed  all  in  light,  with  open  gates  of  gold." 

Phillips  Brooks. 

THE  source  of  a  stream  must  be  sought,  not  where  it 
arises  in  some  green  glen  among  the  hills,  making  a 
tiny  tarn  of  clear  water,  where  the  mountain  sheep  come 
down  to  drink ;  but  in  the  mighty  sea,  drawn  upwards  in 
evaporation,  or  in  the  clouds  that  condense  against  the  cold 
slopes  of  the  hills.  So  with  the  life  of  God  within  us.  In 
its  earlier  stages  we  are  apt  to  suppose  that  it  originated  in 
our  will  and  choice,  and  return  to  our  Father's  House.  But 
as  we  review  it  from  the  eminence  of  the  years,  we  discover 
that  we  chose  because  we  were  chosen  ;  that  we  loved  be- 
cause we  were  first  loved ;  that  we  left  the  sepulchre  of  our 
selfishness  and  the  cerements  of  death,  because  the  Son  of 
God  flung  his  majestic  word  into  the  sepulchral  vault,  cry- 
ing, *'  Come  forth  !  "  All  mature  piety  extols  the  grace  of 
God — that  unmerited  love,  which  each  man  thinks  was 
magnified   most   abundantly  in  his  own  case.     **By  the 

9 


10  PAUL:  Ji  SERVAm  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

grace  of  God,  I  am  what  I  am,"  is  a  confession  which  is 
elicited  from  every  man  as  he  reaches  the  crest  of  the  hill, 
and  looks  back  on  the  cities  of  the  plain  from  which  he  has 
escaped. 

Paul  is  very  emphatic  in  his  acknowledgments  of  this  pre- 
natal grace.  He  loves  to  trace  back  all  the  good  that  was 
in  his  heart  and  life  to  a  Love  that  was  set  on  him  before  the 
mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever  God  had  formed  the 
earth  and  the  world.  In  the  silence  of  eternity  God's  de- 
lights had  already  been  with  him  as  a  son  of  man. 

I.  Foreknown. — "Known  unto  God,'*  said  the  grave, 
linen-vested  James,  '^are  all  his  works  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world  " ;  and  if  his  works  were  foreknown,  how  much 
more  his  saints  !  Again  the  evangelist  tells  us,  that  Jesus 
knew  from  the  beginning  who  they  were  that  believed  not, 
and  who  should  betray  Him ;  surely  then  He  must  have 
known  from  the  beginning  who  the  believers  were,  and  who 
should  become  his  devoted  lovers  and  apostles.  Before  time 
began  it  was  known  in  heaven  who  would  be  attracted  by 
the  love  of  the  cross  to  trust,  love,  and  obey ;  who  would  be 
drawn  to  the  dying  and  risen  Son  of  God ;  who  would  have 
eternal  affinity  with  Him  in  death  and  resurrection  :  and  of 
these  it  is  said,  *<Whom  He  did  foreknow.  He  also  did 
predestinate  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son,  that 
He  might  be  the  firstborn  among  many  brethren"  (Rom. 
viii.  29). 

It  is  not  a  complete  solution  of  the  mystery  of  Predesti- 
nation, and  only  removes  it  one  stage  further  back;  yet  the 
suggestion  casts  a  gleaming  torchlight  into  the  darkness  of 
the  impenetrable  abyss  when  we  are  told  that  God  included 
in  the  eternal  purposes  of  life  all  those  whom  He  foresaw 
would  be  attracted  to  an  indissoluble  union  of  faith  and  life 
with  his  Son.     All  who  come  to  Jesus  show  that  they  were 


PRE-N/tTAL  GRACE  U 

included  in  the  Father's  gift  to  his  Son.  The  Father  gave 
Him  all  those  who  in  the  fulness  of  times  should  come. 
But  why  some  have  an  affinity  with  the  Man  of  the  cross, 
and  not  others ;  why  some  come  and  others  stay  away ;  why 
some  sheep  hear  the  Shepherd's  voice  and  follow,  while 
others  persist  in  straying,  is  one  of  those  secrets  which  are 
not  revealed  as  yet  to  the  children  of  men. 

But  as  the  eye  of  omniscient  love  glanced  down  the  ages, 
it  must  have  lighted  with  peculiar  pleasure  on  the  eager, 
devoted  soul  of  Paul.  God  foreknew  and  predestinated 
him.  The  divine  purpose,  descrying  his  capacity  for  the 
best,  selected  him  for  it,  and  it  for  him.  And  there  is  a 
gleam  of  holy  rapture  on  his  face  when,  reviewing  the 
process  of  those  eternal  movements  of  love  from  his  Roman 
prison,  he  writes,  "Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us  with  every  spirit- 
ual blessing  in  the  heavenlies  in  Christ ;  even  as  He  chose 
us  in  Him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  "  (Eph.  i.  3, 
4,  R.  v.). 

II.  Created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  Good  Works.— 
He  has  been  showing  the  place  of  works  in  the  gospel 
scheme,  insisting,  with  unusual  emphasis  and  sharpness  of 
outline,  that  neither  our  salvation,  nor  our  faith,  is  matter 
for  boasting.  **It  is  the  gift  of  God;  not  of  works,"  he 
cries,  and  then  proceeds  to  the  magnificent  assertion,  **  We 
are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good 
works,  which  God  afore  prepared  that  we  should  walk  in 
them"  (Eph.  ii.  10,  r.  v.). 

The  Greek  word  translated  workmanship  is  poem.  We 
are  God's  Poem.  And  as  we  review  our  life  after  the  lapse 
of  years — save  where  we  have  wilfully  violated  the  obvious 
intention  of  our  Creator — we  shall  perceive  that  there  has 
been  an  underlying  plan  and  conception,  the  development 


12  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

of  which  has  proceeded  in  ever-widening  circles.  *  *  I  girded 
thee,  though  thou  hast  not  known  Me,"  is  as  true  of  our  life 
as  of  Cyrus,  who  was  raised  up  to  be  the  destroyer  of 
Babylon,  the  liberator  of  the  people  of  God.  God  has  a 
distinct  thought  in  each  human  life.  He  creates  with  a 
purpose.  As  a  great  poet  may  adopt  various  kinds  of 
rhythm  and  measure,  such  as  may  suit  his  conception,  but 
has  nevertheless  a  purpose  in  each  poem  that  issues  from  his 
creative  fancy,  so  God  means  something  as  He  sends  each 
life  forth  from  the  silence  of  eternity ;  and  if  we  do  not 
hinder  Him  He  superintends  the  embodiment  of  that  con- 
ception, making  our  entire  life,  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave,  a  symmetrical  and  homogeneous  poem,  dominated 
by  one  thought,  though  wrought  out  with  an  infinite  variety 
of  illustration  and  detail. 

In  a  poem  the  expression  is  adapted  to  the  conception. 
A  rugged  strain  befits  strong  and  terse  thinking,  whilst  more 
flowing  and  mellifluous  measures  are  better  adapted  to 
tender  and  plaintive  musings.  Possibly  we  can  thus 
account  for  the  differences  which  characterize  human  lives. 
Yonder  is  the  fragment  of  a  great  epic,  there  the  lyric  or 
dramatic,  here  the  sonnet  or  elegy.  Your  life  is  smooth 
and  flowing,  or  broken  over  stones  of  sorrow,  or  headlong 
in  its  impetuosity,  because  God's  thought  must  be  mated  to 
the  metre  most  suited  for  its  expression.  Paul's  career 
reminds  us  of  the  Odyssey,  the  I/iadf  the  Paradise  Lost, 
or  the  mighty  conception  of  Dante.  It  is  ocean-like  in 
depth,  variety,  and  change.  As  in  an  oratorio,  so  here, 
the  storehouse  of  expression  is  ransacked  to  convey  the 
deep  and  varied  transition  of  the  Creator's  thought,  emo- 
tion, and  passion. 

The  poet's  art  demands  that  no  touch  of  description  or 
narrative,  in  the  earlier  lines,  should  be  fruitless  or  re- 
dundant.   To  allow  the  canvas  to  be  covered  by  figures  or 


PRE-NATAL   GRACE  13 

objects  which  do  not  conduce  to  the  main  intention  of  a 
picture  is  in  the  highest  degree  reprehensible.  Watch  well 
the  earlier  chapters  of  a  great  tale,  and  you  will  notice  that 
the  touches  and  descriptions  of  every  paragraph  prepare  for 
the  ultimate  unfolding  of  the  story,  and  lead  up  to  the 
climax  to  which  the  closing  pages  hurry. 

So  in  human  life.  God  knows  the  works  which  are  pre- 
pared, that  we  should  walk  in  them.  And  as  He  has  created 
them  for  us,  so  He  has  created  us  for  them,  in  Christ  Jesus. 
The  year  of  our  birth,  the  place  and  scenes  of  early  child- 
hood, our  parentage  and  education,  the  influences  that  have 
moulded  us,  whether  of  books  or  art,  or  the  conditions  of 
daily  toil,  have  been  planned  with  an  unerring  wisdom  and 
predisposition,  that  through  us  might  be  made  known  unto 
the  principalities  and  powers  in  the  heavenly  places  the 
manifold  wisdom  of  God,  according  to  the  eternal  purpose 
which  He  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord ;  in  whom  we 
have  boldness  and  access  in  confidence,  through  our  faith 
in  Him. 

It  was,  therefore,  a  matter  of  constant  congratulation  to 
the  Apostle  that  he  had  not  to  cut  or  carve  his  way,  but 
simply  to  discover  the  track  which  God  had  prepared  for 
his  steps  from  of  old ;  and  when  he  found  it,  it  would  not 
only  be  consistent  with  his  place  in  the  mystical  Body  of 
Christ,  but  be  the  very  pathway  for  which  his  character  and 
gifts  were  most  adapted. 

III.  Raised  in  Christ's  Resurrection. — PauVs  educa- 
tion differed  widely  from  that  of  his  fellow-apostles.  They 
had  grown  up  with  Christ.  It  is  likely  that  the  Master  was 
familiar  with  many  of  them  before  He  called  them.  No 
one  has  travelled  down  from  the  highland  village  of  Naza- 
reth to  the  blue  waters  of  Galilee  without  realizing  how  easy 
and  constant  the  intercourse  must  have  been  during  those 


14  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

thirty  silent  years.  They  grew  gradually  therefore  into  the 
mysteries  of  his  death  and  resurrection.  They  knew  Jesus 
the  man  before  they  recognized  Christ  the  Messiah.  From 
the  Jordan  valley  they  had  been  ascending  the  hill  of  the 
Lord,  and  were  therefore  less  amazed  when  the  sharp  steep 
spur  of  Calvary  suddenly  confronted  them,  surmounted  by 
the  peaks  of  resurrection  and  ascension  rising  in  peerless 
beauty  beyond. 

To  Paul,  on  the  other  hand,  the  first  conception  of  Jesus 
was  in  his  risen  glory.  He  knew  perfectly,  for  it  was  com- 
mon talk  when  he  was  a  student  in  Jerusalem,  that  Jesus 
had  been  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate;  but  now  he  be- 
held Him  risen,  living,  speaking,  his  face  shining  with 
light  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun.  It  was  a  spectacle 
that  could  never  be  effaced  from  his  memory.  Besides  an- 
swering all  his  difficulties,  it  gave  an  aspect  to  his  faith, 
which  it  never  lost.  The  '*  yea  rather,  who  is  risen  again," 
of  Romans  viii.  is  very  significant.  He  had  to  think  his 
way  back  from  the  ascension  and  resurrection  glory  to  Cal- 
vary, Gethsemane,  the  human  life,  and  the  far-away  scenes 
of  the  Lord's  nativity  and  early  years. 

But  more  than  this,  Paul  had  a  very  firm  belief  in  the 
identification  of  all  who  believe  with  the  risen  Lord,  and 
that  from  the  moment  of  his  resurrection.  He  held  and 
taught,  that  all  the  members  of  the  mystical  body  shared 
in  the  experiences  and  exploits  of  their  Head.  What  hap- 
pened to  Him  happened  to  them  also,  and  to  each  of  them. 
There  was  no  single  believer,  therefore,  that  could  not  avow 
as  his  own  all  that  had  befallen  Jesus,  though  at  the  time 
he  might  have  been  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  or  had  not 
begun  to  exist. 

The  apostle  never  allowed  his  views  of  personal  union 
with  the  Saviour  to  clash  with  his  presentation  of  the  unique 
character  of  that  death,  by  virtue  of  which  He  did  for  men 


PRE-NATAL  GRACE.  15 

what  no  one  man,  nor  all  men  together,  could  have  done. 
He  always  taught  that  the  death  of  the  cross  was  a  propiti- 
ating sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world — a  sacrifice 
which  stands  alone  in  its  sublime  and  unapproachable  glory. 
But  he  loved  to  dwell  on  that  other  and  secondary  aspect 
of  the  Saviour's  death,  by  virtue  of  which,  in  the  divine 
intention,  all  who  believe  are  reckoned  one  with  Him  in 
his  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  into  the  heavenlies. 

In  one  memorable  text  he  connects  these  two  aspects  of 
the  cross.  "He  loved  me,  He  gave  Himself /^/' me,"  is 
bound  by  a  golden  link  to  the  words,  '*  I  have  been  cruci- 
fied with  Christ."  He  is  always  clear  in  saying,  **  While 
we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us.  .  .  .  We  were 
reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son."  But  he  is 
as  clear  and  emphatic  in  saying,  **When  we  were  dead 
through  our  trespasses,  He  quickened  us  together  with 
Christ,  and  raised  us  up  with  Him,  and  made  us  to  sit  with 
Him  in  the  heavenlies,  in  Christ."  "That  one  died  for  all " 
was  an  undoubted  article  in  his  creed ;  but  this  was  another, 
"Our  old  man  was  crucified  with  Him,  that  the  body  of  sin 
might  be  done  away,  that  we  should  no  longer  be  in  bond- 
age to  sin."  He  loved  to  reckon  that  he  had  died  with 
Christ,  and  to  claim  that  he  should  daily  receive  the  power 
of  his  risen  life.  He  longed  to  know  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
power  of  his  resurrection,  being  quite  prepared  to  taste  the 
fellowship  of  his  sufferings  and  to  become  conformed  unto 
his  death,  if  only  he  might  day  by  day  attain  unto  the  res- 
urrection from  the  dead  (Phil.  iii.). 

This  conception  of  his  union  with  Christ  in  death  and 
resurrection  underlies  the  whole  tenor  of  his  appeals  to  a 
holy  and  consecrated  life.  "Ye  were  raised  together  with 
Christ,  seek  the  things  that  are  above.  ...  Ye  died,  and 
your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  .  .  .  Christ,  who  is 
our  life,  shall  be  manifested"  (Col.  iii.  1-4). 


16  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

It  was  a  radiant  vision,  and  one  of  which  the  apostle 
never  wearied.  It  was  attributable  to  nothing  less  than  the 
great  love  with  which  God  had  loved  him,  when  he  was  a 
blasphemer  and  a  persecutor,  and  injurious ;  living,  as  he 
confesses  he  did,  in  the  lusts  of  his  flesh,  doing  the  desires 
of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind,  and  by  nature  a  child  of  wrath 
even  as  the  rest  (Eph.  ii.  3).  For  us  too  that  vision  waits; 
and  in  battling  against  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  the  fascina- 
tions of  the  world,  and  the  power  of  the  devil,  there  is  no 
position  more  fraught  with  the  certainty  of  victory  than  this 
of  our  resurrection  standing  and  privilege.  When  the  world 
would  cast  the  spell  of  its  blandishments  over  you,  dare  to 
answer  the  challenge  by  the  assertion  that  it  has  no  further 
jurisdiction  over  you,  since  you  have  passed  from  its  terri- 
tory and  control,  by  virtue  of  your  union  with  Him  who, 
in  that  He  died,  died  unto  sin  once,  and  in  that  He  liveth, 
liveth  unto  God. 

Get  up  into  the  high  mountains,  believing  children  of 
God,  and  view  the  everlasting  love  of  your  Father  towards 
you  in  Jesus  !  Recount  all  that  that  love  has  bougiit  for 
you  before  you  had  any  being !  Is  it  likely  to  drop  you 
now  because  of  any  unworthiness  it  perceives  ?  Can  any- 
thing appear  in  us  which  was  not  anticipated  by  One  who 
before  taking  us  for  his  own  possession  sat  down  and  counted 
the  cost  ?  Is  there  not  comfort  in  knowing  that  your  keel 
is  caught  by  a  current  which  emanated  from  the  purpose  of 
Him  who  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own 
will,  and  is  bearing  you  towards  his  heart?  "Oh,  the 
depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  the  knowledge 
of  God  !  How  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his 
ways  past  finding  out !  For  of  Him,  and  through  Him, 
and  to  Him  are  all  things.  To  Him  be  the  glory  for  ever. 
Amen." 


(Phil.  iii.  i-ii.) 

"  I  was  bred 
In  the  great  city,  pent  mid  cloisters  dim, 
And  saw  naught  lovely  save  the  sky  and  stars.** 

Coleridge. 

NOT  far  from  the  easternmost  bay  of  the  Mediterranean, 
in  the  midst  of  a  rich  and  luxuriant  plain,  stood 
Tarsus,  **  no  mean  city,"  as  one  of  its  greatest  sons  tells  us, 
but  at  the  time  of  which  we  write  a  thriving  emporium  of 
trade,  and  a  focus  of  intellectual  and  religious  activity.  On 
the  edge  of  the  plain,  to  the  north,  rose  the  mighty  Taurus 
mountains,  with  their  peaks  of  eternal  snow,  feeding  with 
perpetual  freshness  and  fulness  the  river  Cydnus,  which, 
after  pouring  over  a  cataract  of  considerable  size,  passed 
through  the  midst  of  the  town,  and  so  to  the  sea.  During 
the  last  part  of  its  course  it  was  navigable  by  the  largest 
vessels,  which  brought  the  treasures  of  East  and  West  to 
the  wharves  that  lined  either  bank.  Here  were  piled 
merchandise  and  commodities  of  every  kind,  brought  to 
exchange  for  the  cloth  of  goats'  hair  for  which  the  town 
was  famous,  and  which  was  furnished  by  the  flocks  of  goats 
that  browsed  on  the  lower  slopes  of  the  Taurus,  tended  by 
the  hardy  mountaineers.  Tarsus  also  received  the  trade 
which  poured  through  the  Cilician  Gates — a  famous  pass 
through  the  mountains,  which  led  upwards  from  the  coast 

»7 


18  P/iUL:  Jt  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

to  Central  Asia  Minor,  to  Phrygia  and  Lycaonia  on  one 
side,  and  to  Cappadocia  on  the  other. 

In  the  Jew  quarter  of  this  thriving  city  at  the  beginning 
of  this  era  (perhaps  about  4  a.  d.),  whilst  Jesus  was  still  an 
infant  in  his  mother's  arms  at  Nazareth,  a  child  was  born, 
who  by  his  life  and  words  was  destined  to  make  it  famous 
in  all  after  time,  and  to  give  a  new  impulse  to  men's 
religious  convictions.  At  his  circumcision  he  probably 
received  a  double  name,  that  of  Saul  for  his  family,  and 
that  of  Paul  for  the  world  of  trade  and  municipal  life. 

The  stamp  of  the  great  city  left  an  ineffaceable  impression 
on  the  growing  lad,  and  in  this  his  early  years  were  widely 
different  from  his  Master's.  Jesus  was  nurtured  in  a  high- 
land village,  and  avoiding  towns,  loved  to  teach  on  the 
hillside,  and  cull  his  illustrations  from  the  field  of  nature. 
Paul  was  reared  amid  the  busy  streets  and  crowded  bazaars 
of  Tarsus,  thronged  with  merchants,  students,  and  sailors 
from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Unconsciously,  as  the  lad 
grew  he  was  being  prepared  to  understand  human  life  under 
every  aspect,  and  to  become  habituated  to  the  thoughts 
and  habits  of  the  store,  the  camp,  the  arena,  the  temple. 
He  became  a  man  to  whom  nothing  which  touched  human 
life  was  foreign.  He  loved  the  stir  of  city  life,  and  drew 
his  metaphors  from  its  keen  interests. 

Jle  came  of  pure  Hebrew  stock,  *<  A  Hebrew  of  {sprung 
from)  the  Hebrews."  On  both  sides  his  genealogy  was 
pure.  There  was  no  Gentile  admixture  in  his  blood,  no 
bar  sinister  in  his  descent.  His  father  must  have  been  a 
man  of  considerable  position,  or  he  would  not  have 
possessed  the  coveted  birthright  of  Roman  citizenship. 
Though  living  away  from  Palestine,  he  was  not  a  Hellenist 
Jew;  but  as  distinctly  Hebrew  as  any  that  dwelt  in  the 
Holy  City  herself.  Perhaps  given  to  sternness  with  his 
children ;  or  it  might  not  have  occurred  to  his  son,  in  after 


yyHEN  I  IVAS  t/f  CHILD  19 

years,  to  warn  fathers  against  provoking  their  children  to 
wrath,  lest  they  should  become  discouraged.  The  mother, 
too,  though  we  have  no  precise  knowledge  of  her,  must 
have  been  imbued  with  those  lofty  ideas  of  which  we  catch 
a  trace  in  the  mothers  of  Samuel,  John  the  Baptist,  and 
Jesus.  Perhaps  she  died  in  his  early  childhood ;  or  her  son 
would  not  in  after  years  have  so  lovingly  turned  to  the 
mother  of  Rufus  for  motherhood  (Rom.  xvi.  13). 

The  Hebrew  tongue  was  probably  the  ordinary  speech 
of  that  home.  This  may  in  a  measure  account  for  the 
apostle's  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
which  he  so  often  quotes.  It  was  in  Hebrew  that  Jesus 
spoke  to  him  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  and  in  Hebrew 
that  he  addressed  the  crowds  from  the  steps  of  the  castle. 
To  him  Jerusalem  was  more  than  Athens  or  Rome;  and 
Abraham,  David,  Isaiah,  than  the  heroes  of  the  Iliad.  He 
counted  it  no  small  thing  to  have  as  ancestors  those  holy 
patriarchs  and  prophets,  who  had  followed  God  from  Ur, 
wrestled  with  the  Angel  at  the  Jabbok,  and  spoken  to  Him 
at  Horeb,  face  to  face.  His  pulse  beat  quick  as  he  remem- 
bered that  he  belonged  to  the  chosen  race,  God's  firstborn, 
whose  were  the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the  covenants, 
and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  service  of  God,  and  the 
promises.  However  much  birth  and  wealth  flaunted  before 
his  eyes,  he  held  himself  to  have  been  born  of  a  nobler 
ancestry,  to  belong  to  a  higher  aristocracy.  From  his 
tribe  had  sprung  the  first  king  of  Israel,  whose  name  he 
was  proud  to  bear. 

His  early  education  was  very  religious.  ''He  was  a 
Pharisee,  and  the  son  of  a  Pharisee."  In  our  day  the 
word  Pharisee  is  a  synonym  for  religious  pride  and  hypoc- 
risy; but  we  must  never  forget  that  in  those  old  Jewish 
days  the  Pharisee  represented  some  of  the  noblest  traditions 
of  the  Hebrew  people.     Amid  the  prevailing  indifference 


20  PAUL:  ^  SERVANT  OF  fESUS  CHRIST 

the  Pharisees  stood  for  a  strict  religious  life.  As  against 
the  scepticism  of  the  Sadducees,  who  believed  in  neither 
spirit  nor  unseen  world,  the  Pharisees  held  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,  and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come.  Amid 
the  lax  morals  of  the  time,  which  infected  Jerusalem  almost 
as  much  as  Rome,  the  Pharisee  was  austere  in  his  ideals, 
and  holy  in  life.  The  texts  on  his  phylacteries  at  least 
evidenced  his  devotion  to  Scripture ;  the  tithing  of  mint, 
cummin,  and  anise,  at  least  proved  the  scrupulosity  of  his 
obedience  to  the  law;  his  prayers  might  be  ostentatious, 
but  they  were  conspicuous  evidence  of  his  belief  in  the 
unseen. 

Such  was  the  father  of  the  future  apostle.  His  early 
home  was  dominated  by  these  austere  and  strong  religious 
conceptions,  and  the  boy  imbibed  them.  According  to  the 
straitest  sect  of  his  religion,  he  lived  a  Pharisee.  He  was 
proud  that  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  he  had  been 
initiated  into  the  rites  and  privileges  of  his  religion,  being 
"circumcised  the  eighth  day."  As  he  heard  of  proselytes 
entering  the  covenant  of  his  fathers  in  mature  life,  he  con- 
gratulated himself  that  as  a  child  he  had  been  admitted 
into  covenant  relationship  with  God. 

Jle  was  blameless  in  outward  life.  As  touching  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  the  law,  so  far  as  outward  ob- 
servances went,  he  was  blameless.  There  was  no  precept 
in  the  moral  or  ceremonial  law  which  he  would  consciously 
disregard ;  and  though  the  rabbis  had  built  upon  the  law 
of  Moses  an  immense  superstructure  of  casuistical  com- 
ments and  minute  injunctions,  he  bravely  set  himself  to 
master  them.  He  would  hold  it  a  crime  to  enter  into  the 
house  of  a  Gentile ;  and  on  leaving  market  or  street  he 
would  carefully  wash  his  hands  of  any  defilement  contracted 
through  touching  what  had  been  handled  by  the  uncircum- 
cised.     He  often  thanked  God  that  he  was  not  as  other 


WHEN  I  WAS  A   CHILD  21 

men.  He  was  taught  to  fast  twice  in  the  week,  and  give 
tithes  of  all  he  possessed.  He  would  observe  the  Sabbath 
and  festivals  with  punctilious  and  awful  care.  **  Brethren," 
he  said  on  one  occasion,  "  I  have  lived,  before  God,  in  all 
conscience  until  this  day." 

The  ardent  soul  of  the  young  Pharisee  was  bent  on 
standing  in  the  front  rank  of  saints.  Early  in  life  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  win  the  prize  of  God's  favor.  He 
could  imagine  nothing  more  desirable  than  this.  When, 
therefore,  in  answer  to  his  enquiry  of  the  recognized 
religious  teachers,  he  learned  that  absolute  obedience  to  the 
words  of  the  rabbis  was  the  only  method  of  achieving  the 
object  on  which  his  heart  was  set,  he  determined  with  un- 
remitting devotion  to  scale  the  perilous  heights,  and  tread 
the  glacier  slopes.  Perhaps  he  encountered  disappointment 
from  the  first.  Possibly  the  cry,  **  O  wretched  man  that  I 
am,"  began  to  formulate  itself  long  before  he  became  a 
Christian.  Though  outwardly  his  conduct  was  exemplary, 
his  soul  may  have  been  rent  by  mortal  strife.  Often  he 
saw  and  approved  the  better,  and  did  the  worst ;  often  he 
lamented  the  infirmity  of  his  motives  and  the  infirmity  of 
his  will.  Conscious  of  shortcomings  which  no  other  eye 
discerned  ;  yearning  for  power  to  spend  one  absolutely  holy 
day,  which  the  rabbis  taught,  if  lived  by  any  one  Israelite, 
would  secure  the  immediate  advent  of  the  Messiah. 

His  nature  must  have  been  warm-hearted  and  fervid  from 
the  first.  The  tears  that  flowed  at  Miletus,  the  heart  that 
was  nearly  broken  on  his  last  journey  to  Jerusalem,  the 
pathetic  appeals  and  allusions  of  his  epistles,  his  capacity 
for  ardent  and  constant  friendships — were  not  the  growth 
of  his  mature  years ;  but  were  present,  in  germ  at  least, 
from  his  earliest  childhood.  He  must  always  have  been 
extremely  sensitive  to  kindness,  and  the  contrast  between 
his  remembrance  of  his  friends  in  after  life,  and  his  entire 


22  PAUL:  Ji  SERVAm  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

reticence  about  his  parents,  and  brothers  or  sisters,  shows 
how  bitter  and  final  was  that  disowning  which  followed  on 
his  avowal  of  Christianity.  There  is  more  than  appears 
on  the  surface  in  his  remark,  **For  whom  I  suffered  the 
loss  of  all  things." 

The  zeal,  which  in  after  years  led  him  to  persecute  the 
Church,  was  already  stirring  in  his  heart,  **  I  am  a  Jew," 
he  once  said,  '  *  born  in  Tarsus  of  Cilicia,  instructed  accord- 
ing to  the  strict  manner  of  the  law  of  our  fathers,  being 
zealous  for  God."  Indeed,  he  tells  us  that  he  advanced 
in  the  Jews'  religion  beyond  many  of  his  own  age  among 
his  countrymen,  being  more  exceedingly  zealous  for  the 
traditions  of  the  fathers.  He  did  not  hold  truth  indo- 
lently or  superficially,  or  as  a  necessity  of  his  early  nurture 
and  education  ;  but  as  a  tincture  which  had  saturated  and 
dyed  the  deepest  emotions  of  a  very  intense  nature. 

There  was  a  sense  in  which  he  might  have  applied  to 
himself  some  older  words,  and  said,  **The  zeal  of  Thine 
house  hath  eaten  me  up."  May  there  not  also  have  been 
an  undefined  hope  that  his  zeal  might  atone  for  some  of 
those  defects  of  which  he  was  so  painfully  conscious,  and 
commend  him  to  God  ?  He  knew,  by  personal  experience, 
what  it  was  to  have,  as  the  rest  of  his  brethren  after  the 
flesh,  a  zeal  for  God,  but  not  according  to  knowledge. 
******* 

As  a  child  he  would  learn  by  heart  Deut.  vi.  4-9 ;  Psalms 
cxiii.-cxviii.  The  days  of  his  childhood  must  have  passed 
thus :  At  five  he  began  to  read  the  Scriptures ;  at  six  he 
would  be  sent  to  the  school  of  a  neighboring  Rabbi ;  at  ten 
he  would  be  instructed  in  the  oral  law;  at  thirteen  he 
would  become,  by  a  kind  of  confirmation,  a  son  of  the 
law.  But  it  is  not  likely  that  he  received  the  culture  of  the 
Greek  Philosophy,  for  which  Tarsus  was  rather  famous. 
This  was  rendered  impossible  by  the  uncompromising  atti- 


yVHEN  I  H^AS  A   CHILD  23 

tude  of  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion  to  all  the  Gentile  com- 
munity around  them.  Between  the  ages  of  thirteen  and 
sixteen  he  would  be  sent  to  Jerusalem,  to  pursue  his  train- 
ing for  the  office  of  a  rabbi,  to  which  he  was  evidently 
designated  by  the  ambition  of  his  father.  It  was  easy  for 
the  boy  to  do  thus,  as  he  had  a  married  sister  in  Jerusalem 
with  whom  he  could  lodge  during  his  attendance  on  the 
classes  of  the  illustrious  Gamaliel.  *'  I  was  brought  up  in 
this  city,"  he  said  afterwards,  ''at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel." 

We  must  not  omit  to  record  that  during  these  boyish 
years  he  acquired  a  trade,  which  served  him  usefully  when 
hard  pressed  for  means  of  livelihood.  '*  He  that  teacheth 
not  a  trade  is  as  though  he  taught  his  son  to  be  a  thief"— 
so  ran  the  old  Jewish  proverb. 

Every  Jew  was  taught  a  trade,  generally  that  of  his 
father.  Probably  Paul's  family  for  generations  back  had 
been  engaged  in  weaving  a  dark  coarse  cloth  of  goats'  hair. 
From  his  childhood  he  must  have  been  familiar  with  the 
rattle  of  the  looms,  in  which  the  long  hair  of  the  mountain 
goats  was  woven  into  a  strong  material,  suitable  alike  for 
the  outer  coats  of  artisans  or  for  tents,  and  known  as  Cili- 
cian  cloth,  after  the  name  of  the  province  in  which  Tarsus 
was  situated.  This  handicraft  was  poorly  remunerated; 
but  in  Paul's  case  it  was  highly  suitable  to  the  exigencies 
of  a  wandering  life.  Other  trades  would  require  a  settled 
workshop  and  expensive  apparatus ;  but  this  was  a  simple 
industry,  capable  of  being  pursued  anywhere  and  needing 
the  smallest  possible  apparatus  and  tools. 

******* 

Across  a  gulf  of  fifty  years  from  the  confinement  of  a 
Roman  prison,  Paul  had  time  to  review  these  things  which 
he  had  before  counted  gain.  To  the  earnest  gaze  which  he 
directed  towards  them,  the  receding  shores  of  his  early  life 
came  near  again ;  and  as  he  counted  up  their  treasures  he 


24  PAUL:  Ji  SERVAUT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

wrote  across  them — loss,  dross :  *'  the  things  that  were  gain 
to  me,  these  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea,  doubtless, 
and  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord." 

It  was  not  a  small  thing  to  have  come  of  noble  and 
Godly  parentage,  to  be  a  child  of  Abraham,  and  heir  of 
the  promises  made  to  his  seed.     Buf  he  counted  it  loss. 

It  was  not  a  small  thing  to  have  built  up  by  constant 
obedience  and  scrupulous  care  a  fabric  of  blameless  reputa- 
tion.    But  he  counted  it  loss. 

It  was  not  a  small  thing  to  be  conscious  of  the  throbbing 
of  a  fervent  spirit  which  would  brook  no  indolence  or 
lethargy,  and  which  transformed  duty  to  delight.  But  he 
counted  it  dross. 

There  was  calm  deliberation  in  his  tone.  Youth  may  be 
impassioned  and  hasty,  but  the  man  who  speaks  thus  is  not 
a  youth;  his  brow  is  girt  with  mature  wisdom,  and  his 
heart  stored  with  the  experience  of  several  lives  crowded 
into  one.  He  has  spent  long  years  in  prison,  where  there 
has  been  plenty  of  time  for  reflection,  and  ample  oppor- 
tunity of  weighing  the  past  against  the  present ;  but  not- 
withstanding all,  and  that  the  difficulties  of  the  past  are 
always  minimized  while  those  of  the  present  are  magnified, 
he  twice  over  speaks  of  the  advantages  and  achievements 
which  had  been  the  pride  of  his  early  manhood,  as  loss  and 
worse. 

There  was  no  irreverence  in  his  allusions  to  the  rites  of 
the  venerable  system  in  which  he  had  been  nurtured.  For 
long  years  Judaism  had  been  the  only  interpreter  to  him  of 
the  Divine,  the  only  nourishment  of  his  religious  instincts. 
The  grounds  of  trust  which  he  now  deemed  insufficient  had 
at  least  been  the  landing  places  on  the  stairway  of  his  up- 
ward ascent.  He  could  not  forget  that  God  Himself  had 
been  the  Architect  of  the  House  in  which  his  soul  had 


IVHEN  J  IV AS  A   CHILD  25 

found  a  shelter  and  home ;  that  his  voice  had  spoken  in 
the  Prophets,  that  his  thoughts  had  inspired  them,  that  his 
purposes  had  been  fulfilled.  No  thoughtful  man  will  talk 
contemptuously  of  his  hornbook,  or  of  his  first  teachers. 
In  these  probably  lay  the  rudiments  of  all  he  has  afterwards 
learned.  But,  notwithstanding  the  noble  reverence  of  the 
Apostle's  soul,  he  could  not  but  affirm  that  what  he  had 
counted  gain  was  loss. 

The  grounds  for  this  verdict  are  probably  to  be  found  in 
two  directions.  On  the  one  hand,  he  discovered  that  the 
sacrifices  of  Judaism,  as  was  obvious  from  their  constant 
repetition,  might  bring  sins  to  remembrance,  but  they  could 
not  remove  them ;  he  discovered  that  outward  rites,  how- 
ever punctiliously  observed,  did  not  avail  to  cleanse  the 
conscience ;  he  discovered  that  in  Judaism  there  was  no 
power  unto  salvation,  nothing  to  reinforce  and  renew  the 
flagging  energies  of  the  soul.  On  the  other  hand,  he  had 
found  something  better. 

The  young  artist  leaves  his  village  home,  inflated  with 
pride  at  his  achievements.  Nothing  like  them  has  ever 
been  seen  by  the  simple  neighbors.  They  count  him  a 
prodigy,  and  he  is  only  too  glad  to  accept  their  estimate. 
In  his  secret  judgment  he  counts  himself  able  to  step 
forth  into  the  arena  of  the  world  as  a  successful  competitor 
for  its  prizes.  So  he  fares  forth,  to  Paris,  to  Milan,  to 
Rome.  But  each  month  weakens  his  self-confidence,  and 
gives  him  a  lower  estimate  of  his  powers.  Presently  he 
becomes  the  pupil  of  some  master  artist;  and  when,  at 
the  expiration  of  several  years,  he  returns  again  to  his 
home  and  opens  the  portfolio  filled  with  the  early  studies, 
he  closes  it  immediately  with  disgust.  He  wonders  how  he 
could  ever  have  dared  to  count  them  art.  What  things 
were  gain  to  him,  those  in  the  light  of  all  that  he  has 
seen  and  learned,  he  now  counts  loss. 


20  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

So  Paul  had  seen  Jesus.  Before  the  glory  of  that 
heavenly  vision  all  other  objects  of  attraction  had  paled. 
He  counted  all  things  to  be  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  his  Lord.  In  comparison  with 
his  finished  work,  all  his  own  efforts  were  futile.  It  was  a 
relief  to  turn  from  his  own  righteousness,  which  was  of  the 
law,  and  to  avail  himself  of  God's  method  of  righteousness, 
which  was  through  faith  in  Christ.  So  long  as  he  antici- 
pated having  to  meet  the  demands  of  God's  infinite  holi- 
ness by  his  own  endeavors,  he  was  haunted  with  the  dread 
that  there  might  be  some  fatal  flaw  ;  but  directly  he  learned 
that  by  renouncing  all  he  might  gain  Christ ;  that  by  for- 
saking his  own  efforts  and  simply  trusting  Christ  he  might 
be  found  in  Him,  possessed  of  the  flawless  righteousness 
which  had  been  wrought  by  his  obedience  unto  death ;  that 
by  confessing  himself  unable  to  do  the  good  he  would, 
and  identifying  himself  with  the  death  of  Christ,  he  might 
come  to  know  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and  attain  day 
by  day  to  something  of  its  likeness — then  with  great  thank- 
fulness he  abandoned  his  own  strivings  and  efforts,  and 
counted  all  his  former  gains  but  dross  and  dung ;  that  he 
might  win  Christ  and  all  that  Christ  could  be  and  do. 

It  is  an  awful  experience,  when  the  soul  first  awakes  to 
find  that  he  has  been  making  a  mistake  in  the  most 
important  of  matters,  and  has  nearly  missed  the  deepest 
meaning  of  life;  when  it  discovers  that  the  rules  it  has 
made  for  itself,  and  the  structure  of  character  it  has 
laboriously  built  up,  are  but  wood,  hay,  and  stubble ;  when 
it  learns  that  it  has  been  building  on  an  insecure  founda- 
tion, and  that  every  brick  must  be  taken  down.  Ah  me  ! 
it  is  a  discovery  which,  when  it  comes  in  early  manhood, 
for  the  moment  at  least,  paralyzes — we  fall  to  the  ground, 
and  spend  three  days  and  nights  stunned  and  dazed ;  when 
it  comes  at  the  end  of  life,  is  full  of  infinite  regret ;  when 


l^MEN  I  IVAS.  A   CHILD  27 

it  comes  in  the  other  world,  is  black  with  the  darkness  of 
unutterable  despair.  The  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is 
not  quenched. 

There  is  one  test  only  which  can  really  show  whether  we 
are  right  or  wrong :  it  is  our  attitude  to  Jesus  Christ.  If 
our  religious  life  revolves  around  anything  less  than 
Himself — though  it  be  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  work 
for  Him,  the  rules  of  a  holy  life — it  will  inevitably  dis- 
appoint and  fail  us.  But  if  He  is  Alpha  and  Omega ;  if 
our  faith,  however  feebly,  looks  up  to  Him ;  if  we  press  on 
to  know  Him,  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and  the 
fellowship  of  his  sufferings  \  if  we  count  all  things  but  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  his  knowledge — we  may  possess 
ourselves  in  peace  amid  the  mysteries  of  life,  and  the  lofty 
requirements  of  the  great  white  throne. 


in 

Stfarattb  from  H)t  WivHi 

(Gal.  i.  15.) 

•*  What  to  thee  is  shadow,  to  Him  is  day. 

And  the  end  He  knoweth; 
And  not  on  a  blind  and  aimless  way. 
The  spirit  goeth. 

**  Like  warp  and  woof  all  destinies 
Are  woven  fast, 
Linked  in  sympathy,  like  the  keys 

Of  an  organ  vast."  Whittier. 

WHEN  he  became  a  man,  Paul  put  away  childish 
things ;  but  there  were  some  things  which  he  could 
not  put  away,  and  there  was  no  need  that  he  should,  be- 
cause they  had  been  planned  beforehand  by  God  as  a  special 
qualification  and  preparation  for  his  life  work.  Over  his 
cradle  in  the  crowded  Jewish  quarter  of  Tarsus  a  Divine 
purpose  hovered.  As  to  Jeremiah,  so  to  him,  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  might  have  come,  saying,  *' Before  I  formed 
thee,  I  knew  thee ;  and  before  thou  camest  forth  I  sancti- 
fied thee :  I  have  appointed  thee  a  prophet  unto  the  na- 
tions." He  had  some  inkling  of  this  when  he  said,  in 
writing  to  the  Galatians,  **  It  was  the  good  pleasure  of  God 
who  separated  me  even  from  my  birth,  and  called  me 
through  his  grace,  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might 
preach  Him  among  the  Gentiles." 

God  has  a  purpose  in  every  life  ;  and  where  the  soul  is 
perfectly  yielded  and  acquiescent,  He  will  certainly  realize 

28 


SEPARATED  FROM  THE  BIRTH  29 

it.  Blessed  is  he  who  has  never  thwarted  the  execution  of 
the  Divine  ideal. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  studies  in  human  life  is  to 
see  how  all  the  circumstances  and  incidents  of  its  initial 
stages  have  been  shaped  by  a  determining  will,  and  made 
to  subserve  a  beneficent  purpose.  Every  thread  is  needed 
for  the  completed  pattern ;  every  piece  of  equipment  stands 
in  good  stead  at  the  final  test. 

The  future  Apostle  must  be  deeply  instructed  in  the  Jew- 
ish law.  "The  law"  must  stand  here  as  a  convenient 
term,  not  only  for  the  moral  and  Levitical  code,  as  given  in 
the  Pentateuch,  but  for  the  minute  and  laborious  additions 
of  the  rabbis,  who — to  use  one  of  their  own  illustrations — 
had  so  overlaid  the  sweet  flute  of  truth  with  their  gilding  as 
to  silence  its  music.  The  righteousness  which  was  of  the 
law  consisted  in  meats,  and  drinks,  and  divers  ordinances 
and  washings;  in  the  length  of  fringes  and  number  of 
tassels ;  the  straining  of  wine  lest  there  should  be  the  dead 
body  of  a  fly  ;  the  tithing  of  the  stalk  as  well  as  the  flower 
of  mint ;  the  punctilious  measuring  of  the  ground,  that  not 
a  step  might  be  taken  beyond  the  legitimate  Sabbath  day's 
journey.  One  great  rabbi  spent  the  whole  week  in  con- 
sidering how  to  observe  the  coming  Sabbath. 

No  one  could  have  appreciated  the  intolerable  burden  of 
this  yoke  of  legalism — which  even  Peter  said  neither  they 
nor  their  fathers  were  able  to  bear — unless  he  had  been 
taught,  as  Paul  was,  "  according  to  the  perfect  manner  of 
the  law  of  the  fathers."  As  Luther  was  reared  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  that  he  might  appreciate  the  utter 
impotence  of  her  system  to  pacify  the  conscience,  or  ap- 
pease the  heart,  and  that,  having  broken  from  it,  he  might 
show  the  way  of  escape  to  others ;  so  Saul  of  Tarsus  must 
needs  tarry  amid  the  experiences  of  which  he  speaks  so 
often  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  that  he  might  be  able 


30  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

to  magnify  the  freedom  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us 
free. 

He  needed  to  be  apt  in  his  quotation  and  application  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Every  question  in  religious  and 
ordinary  Jewish  life  was  settled  by  an  appeal  to  the  Scrip- 
tures. No  speaker  could  gain  the  audience,  or  hold  the  at- 
tention of  a  Jewish  congregation  for  a  moment,  unless  he 
were  able  to  show,  the  more  ingeniously  the  better,  that  his 
statements  could  be  substantiated  from  the  Inspired  Word. 
To  the  law  and  the  testimony  every  assertion  must  be 
brought.  Before  that  venerable  bar  every  teacher  must 
stand. 

It  was  above  all  things  necessary  that  Christianity  should 
be  shown  to  be,  not  the  destruction  but  the  fulfilment  of  the 
ancient  law — the  white  flower  growing  from  the  plant  which 
God  had  brought  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees;  the  meridian 
day  of  which  the  dawn  first  streaked  the  sky  at  Moriah. 
What  made  Paul  so  *'  mad  "  against  Christianity  was  its  ap- 
parent denial  and  betrayal  of  the  obvious  meaning  of  Old 
Testament  prophecies  and  types.  Neither  he  nor  any  of 
his  co-religionists  were  prepared  to  accept  a  humiliated, 
suffering,  dying  Messiah,  unless  it  could  be  shown  without 
controversy  that  such  a  conception  were  the  true  reading  of 
Moses,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Law.  If  any  collection  of 
sincere  and  earnest  Jews  had  been  asked  the  question, 
'*  Ought  not  the  Messiah  to  suffer  such  things  and  to  enter 
into  his  glory?"  they  would  have  unhesitatingly  answered 
No ;  and  would  have  required  one  who  was  thoroughly 
versed,  not  only  in  Scripture,  but  in  the  recondite  interpre- 
tations of  the  rabbi,  to  prove  to  them  from  the  entire  range 
of  the  Old  Testament  that  it  behoved  the  Messiah  to  suffer. 

This  qualification  also  Paul  acquired  during  his  years  of 
training  under  Gamaliel.  Throughout  the  entire  course, 
**the  sacred  oracles"  were  the  only  text-book;  and  every 


SEPARATED  FROM  THE  BIRTH  31 

day  was  spent  in  the  careful  and  minute  consideration  of 
words,  lines,  and  letters,  together  with  the  interpretations 
of  the  various  rabbis. 

Men  might  chafe  at  his  renderings  of  the  ancient  words, 
but  they  could  not  dispute  his  intimate  acquaintance  with 
them,  and  his  profound  erudition.  He  knew  the  whole 
ground  perfectly.  There  was  not  a  single  argument  with 
which  he  was  not  familiar,  and  for  which  he  was  not  in- 
stantly ready  with  a  reply.  The  field  of  Scripture  had  been 
repeatedly  ploughed  over  by  that  keen  mind,  and  its  har- 
vests gathered  into  that  retentive  memory.  There  are 
passages  in  his  writings  which  are  little  else  than  stairways 
of  quotation,  one  built  up  from  another.  His  arguments 
are  clinched  by  an  appeal  to  the  Sacred  Word,  as  though 
otherwise  they  would  be  inconclusive.  For  illustration  he 
will  go,  not  to  the  illuminated  missal  of  nature,  for  which 
he  seems  to  have  had  no  eye,  but  to  the  incidents  and  nar- 
ratives which  have  made  the  Old  Testament  the  storybook 
of  all  the  ages.  It  was  this  power  that  gave  him  an  en- 
trance into  every  synagogue,  and  carried  conviction  to  so 
many  candid  Jews.  How  richly,  for  instance,  it  was  ap- 
preciated by  Bible  students,  like  those  whom  he  met  at 
Beraea  ! 

He  needed  to  have  large  and  liberal  views.  Jewish  in- 
tolerance and  exclusivism  had  reared  a  high  wall  of  parti- 
tion between  Jew  and  Gentile.  The  Jews  had  no  dealings 
with  the  Samaritans ;  how  much  less  with  the  Gentile  dogs 
that  crouched  beneath  the  well-spread  table  of  the  chil- 
dren !  Here  is  a  characteristic  saying  of  one  of  the  doc- 
tors of  the  law :  "  If  a  Gentile  fall  into  the  sea,  a  Jew  is 
not  to  pull  him  out ;  for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  not  be 
guilty  of  thy  neighbor's  blood — but  the  Gentile  is  not  thy 
neighbor." 

The  majority  of  the  apostles  were  largely  influenced  by 


32  PAUL:  Oi  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

this  caste  spirit.  It  was  hard  for  them,  though  they  had 
been  moulded  by  the  Lord  Himself,  to  break  through  the 
ring  fence  of  early  training.  Had  the  shaping  of  the 
primitive  church  been  left  to  them,  though  theoretically 
they  might  have  acknowledged  the  equality  of  Jew  and 
Gentile  in  God's  sight,  yet  practically  they  would  have 
drawn  distinctions  between  the  Jewish  Christians  and  those 
other  sheep  which  their  Shepherd  was  bringing,  but  which 
were  not  of  the  Hebrew  fold.  Peter  will  go  into  a  Gentile 
house,  and  eat  with  the  uncircumcised  beneath  the  pressure 
of  the  heavenly  vision ;  but  when  the  glory  of  that  memo- 
rable day  has  faded,  and  certain  come  down  from  James,  he 
makes  an  excuse  to  withdraw  into  the  impregnable  fastness 
of  Jewish  superiority.  Evidently  another  than  James,  or 
even  Peter,  was  needed,  who  would  dare  to  insist  on  the 
absolute  equality  of  all  who  by  faith  had  become  stones  in 
the  one  church,  or  buildings  in  the  one  holy  temple,  that 
was  growing  into  an  habitation  for  God.  The  need  of  a 
trumpet  voice  was  urgent,  to  proclaim  that  Jesus  had  abol- 
ished in  his  flesh  the  enmity,  that  He  might  create  in  Him- 
self of  the  twain  one  new  man,  so  making  peace. 

Through  the  ordering  of  Divine  Providence  this  qualifi- 
cation also  was  communicated  to  the  future  Apostle  of  the 
Uncircumcision. 

By  birth,  as  we  have  seen,  he  was  a  Hebrew :  not  other- 
wise could  he  have  influenced  Jews,  or  obtained  admission 
into  their  synagogues.  But  he  had  been  brought  up  at  the 
feet  of  the  great  Rabbi,  who,  while  reverenced  as  '*the 
beauty  of  the  law,"  was  recognized  also  as  the  most  large- 
hearted  of  all  the  Jewish  doctors.  Grandson  of  the  great 
Hillel,  he  was,  as  the  story  of  the  Acts  indicates,  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Sanhedrim  :  **  A  doctor  of  the  law,  had  in 
reputation  among  all  the  people"  (Acts  v.  34).  But  he 
went  so  far  as  to  permit  and  advocate  the  study  of  Greek 


SEPARATED  FROM  THE  BIRTH  33 

literature.  In  his  speech  before  the  Sanhedrim,  given  in 
Acts  v.,  we  trace  the  movements  of  a  human  and  generous 
mind,  willing  to  admit  the  workings  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
beyond  the  limits  of  rigid  orthodoxy,  and  to  follow  the 
torch  of  truth  wherever  it  might  lead — a  very  holy  man, 
deeply  attached  to  the  religion  of  his  people,  yet  accus- 
tomed to  look  at  all  questions  from  the  standpoint  of  a  large 
culture  and  wide  charity. 

The  influence  of  such  a  teacher  must  have  been  very 
potent  on  the  young  Tarsus  student,  who  had  come  to  sit  at 
his  feet,  and  who  regarded  him  with  a  boundless  enthusi- 
asm. Into  the  upturned  furrows  of  that  impressible  nature 
may  have  been  sown  seeds,  which  under  the  sun  of  Christi- 
anity would  ripen  into  such  sayings  as  that  *' there  is 
neither  Jew  nor  Greek  ...  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ 
Jesus." 

There  was  needed  specially  a  wide  knowledge  of  the 
world.  The  man  who  was  to  be  a  missionary  to  men  must 
know  them.  He  who  would  be  all  things  to  all  men,  that 
by  all  means  he  might  win  some,  must  be  familiar  with  their 
methods  of  life  and  thought.  A  Jerusalem-Jew  could  not 
possibly  have  adapted  himself  to  cultured  Greeks  and  prac- 
tical Romans,  to  barbarians  and  Scythians,  to  bond  and 
free ;  to  Festus  the  imperial  governor,  and  Agrippa  the  He- 
brew king ;  to  Onesimus  the  slave,  and  Philemon  the 
master,  as  Paul  did. 

But  this  qualification  also  was  supplied  without  his  realiz- 
ing its  worth.  From  boyhood  he  was  familiar  with  the 
tides  of  Gentile  life  that  flowed  up  the  Cydnus  into  his 
native  city.  Men  from  all  the  world  came  thither  for  pur- 
poses of  trade.  The  wharves,  baths,  colonnades,  and  open 
places  of  the  city,  were  thronged  with  the  costumes,  and 
rang  with  the  many  tongues  of  all  the  lands  that  touched 
on  the  great  inland  sea.     And  thus  insensibly  the  hprizou 


34  PAUL:  ^  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

of  the  boy's  mind  was  widened  to  include  the  great  outer 
world. 

When  his  training  at  Jerusalem  was  complete  he  must 
have  returned  to  Tarsus.  This  surely  would  be  immediately 
before  the  appearance  of  John  the  Baptist,  preaching  re- 
pentance in  the  Jordan  valley.  Paul  could  not  have  been 
in  Judaea  at  this  time  without  making  some  reference  to  his 
marvellous  ministry  and  tragic  end.  In  the  same  way  he 
must  have  missed  the  ministry  and  crucifixion  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  and  the  early  years  of  the  existence  of  the  church. 
But  during  this  interval  his  education  was  proceeding.  In 
these  years  he  probably  married,  else  he  would  not  after- 
wards have  occupied  a  seat  in  the  Sanhedrim  ;  and  steadily 
pursued  his  trade,  or  exercised  his  profession  as  a  rabbi  in 
the  local  synagogue,  or  travelled  far  afield  on  some  religious 
mission,  compassing  sea  and  land  to  make  proselytes. 

But  imagine  what  those  seven  or  eight  years  must  have 
meant  to  the  young  Pharisee.  Could  the  young  athlete 
have  restrained  himself  from  encounters  with  the  system  of 
things  by  which  he  was  surrounded  ?  There  was  a  school 
of  heathen  philosophy  in  search  of  the  supreme  good : 
would  he  not  try  a  throw  with  its  exponents  ?  There  was  a 
vast  system  of  idolatry,  especially  of  Baal  worship  :  would 
he  not  reason  with  its  votaries,  arguing  that  they  cannot  be 
gods  which  are  made  with  hands?  There  was  wild  in- 
dulgence of  shameless,  sensual  passion :  would  he  not  con- 
trast it  with  the  comparative  purity  of  his  own  race  ?  And 
all  the  while  he  would  be  keenly  observing  and  noting 
every  phase  of  Gentile  heathendom.  The  pictures  of  the 
world  of  that  age  given  in  the  first  chapter  to  the  Romans 
and  the  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  comprising  such 
dark  allusions  to  the  depravity  and  abandonment  of  the 
Gentiles,  could  only  have  been  given  by  one  who  obtained 
his  information   first-hand,  and   by  personal  observation. 


SEP/iRATED  FROM  THE  BIRTH  35 

What  vivid  touches  there  are  in  his  entreaty  not  to  walk 
**as  the  Gentiles  walk,  in  the  vanity  of  their  mind,  being 
darkened  in  their  understanding,  alienated  from  the  life  of 
God  .  .  .  who  being  past  feeling  give  themselves  up  to 
lasciviousness,  to  make  a  trade  of  all  uncleanness  with 
greediness"  (Eph.  iv.  i8,  19,  r.v.). 

He  needed  also  to  be  equipped  with  the  pre-requisites  of  a 
great  traveller.  For  this  there  were  three  necessary  con- 
ditions :  speech,  safety,  sustenance.  And  each  was  forth- 
coming. 

Speech.  Greek  was  the  common  language  of  the  world, 
the  medium  of  intercourse  among  educated  persons,  as 
English  is  in  India  to-day.  And  Paul  was  even  more 
familiar  with  Greek  than  with  the  sacred  Hebrew.  When 
quoting  the  Scriptures  he  habitually  employed  the  Septuagint 
(/.<?.,  the  Greek)  version;  and  he  was  able  to  speak  their 
tongue  fluently  and  elegantly  enough  to  hold  the  attention 
of  Athenian  philosophers. 

Safety.  All  the  world  was  Roman.  Roman  governors 
in  every  province;  Roman  usages  in  every  city;  Roman 
coins,  customs,  and  officials.  To  be  a  Roman  citizen  gave 
a  man  a  standing  and  position  in  any  part  of  the  empire. 
He  might  not  be  beaten  without  trial ;  or  if  he  were,  the 
magistrates  were  in  jeopardy  of  losing  their  office,  and  even 
their  life.  He  could  demand  trial  at  the  bar  of  Caesar ;  if 
he  appealed  to  Caesar,  to  Caesar  he  must  go.  He  would  be 
permitted  to  plead  for  himself  before  the  bar  of  Roman 
justice.  So  great  were  the  advantages,  that  men  like 
Lysias  the  chief  captain  thought  it  worth  while  to  purchase 
the  right  of  freedom  with  a  great  sum.  How  great  an  ad- 
vantage, then,  to  be  able  to  say  as  Paul  could,  /  was  free 
born  /  His  family  may  have  been  originally  settled  in 
Tarsus  as  part  of  a  Roman  colony,  and  Jews  were  always 
considered  excellent  colonists,  and  so  this  inestimable  priv- 


36  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

ilege  came  to  cast  its  sheltering  folds  around  its  most  illus- 
trious son. 

Sustenance.  This  also  was  secured  to  him.  On  what- 
ever shore  he  was  cast  there  were  always  goats,  and  always 
the  demand  for  the  coarse  cloth  at  which  he  had  been  wont 
to  work  from  his  boyhood. 

In  all  this  how  evidently  was  the  Divine  purpose  at  work, 
shaping  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  its  own  will.  And 
what  was  true  in  Paul's  case  is  as  true  for  us  all.  A  provi- 
dence is  shaping  our  ends ;  a  plan  is  developing  in  our 
lives ;  a  supremely  wise  and  loving  Being  is  making  all 
things  work  together  for  good.  In  the  sequel  of  our  life's 
story  we  shall  see  that  there  was  a  meaning  and  necessity 
in  all  the  previous  incidents,  save  those  which  were  the 
result  of  our  own  folly  and  sin,  and  that  even  these  have 
been  made  to  contribute  to  the  final  result.  Trust  Him, 
child  of  God :  He  is  leading  you  by  a  right  way  to  the 
celestial  City  of  Habitation ;  and  as  from  the  terrace  of 
eternity  you  review  the  path  by  which  you  came  from  the 
morning  land  of  childhood,  you  will  confess  that  He  hath 
done  all  things  well. 


IV 

*'''®l)2  ilHartgr  Stcpljen" 

(Acts  xxii.  20.) 

«  He  heeded  not  reviling  tones, 
Nor  sold  his  heart  to  idle  moans, 
Tho'  cursed,  and  scorn'd  and  bruised  with  stones. 

"  But  looking  upward,  full  of  grace. 
He  prayed,  and  from  a  happy  place 
God's  glory  smote  him  on  the  face." 

Tennyson. 

THE  method  of  God's  introduction  of  his  greatest  serv- 
ants to  the  world  differs  widely.  In  some  cases  they 
rise  gradually  and  majestically,  like  the  dawn,  from  the 
glimmer  of  childhood's  early  promise  to  the  meridian  of 
mature  power  and  usefulness.  In  other  cases  they  flash  like 
the  lightning  on  the  dark  abyss  of  night.  Sometimes  God 
charges  a  man  with  a  message,  and  launches  him  forth  sud- 
denly and  irresistibly.  Such  a  man  was  Elijah,  with  his 
**Thus  saith  the  Lord,  before  whom  I  stand";  John  the 
Baptist,  with  his  **It  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  have  thy 
brother's  wife";  such  also  was  Savonarola,  of  Florence; 
with  many  another.     And  such  was  Stephen. 

We  know  little  or  nothing  of  his  antecedents.  That  he 
was  a  Hellenist  Jew  is  almost  certain ;  and  that  he  had  per- 
sonally known  and  consorted  with  the  Son  of  Man,  whom 
he  afterwards  recognized  in  his  glory,  is  more  than  probable. 
But  of  father,  mother,  birthplace,  and  education,  we  know 
nothing.     We  have  the  story  of  one  day,  the  record  of  one 

37 


38  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

speech — that  day  his  last,  that  speech  his  apology  and  de- 
fence for  his  life. 

He  reminds  us  of  a  cloud,  not  specially  distinguishable 
from  its  companions,  which  has  helped  to  form  the  leaden 
covering  of  the  sky  during  an  overcast  afternoon  ;  we  had 
not  noticed  it,  indeed,  the  sun  had  set  without  even  touch- 
ing it ;  but  when  the  orb  of  day  has  passed  beneath  the 
horizon,  the  cloud  catches  its  departing  rays,  and  becomes 
saturated  and  steeped  with  fire.  See  how  it  burns  with 
glory  !  Its  very  heart  is  turned  to  flame !  For  a  few  mo- 
ments the  light  remains,  and  it  is  gone  !  So  Stephen  caught 
for  a  brief  space  the  glory  of  the  departed  Lord,  and,  re- 
flecting it,  was  transformed  into  the  same  image ;  '*  and  all 
that  sat  in  the  council,  fastening  their  eyes  on  Him,  saw  his 
face,  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel." 

Stephen's  life  and  death  must  always  have  attracted  rev- 
erent interest ;  but  how  much  more  so  as  we  trace  his  in- 
fluence on  the  method,  thought,  and  character  of  the  great 
Apostle,  whose  life  work  it  became  to  perpetuate  and  render 
permanent  what  was  rarest  and  noblest  in  the  Church's  first 
deacon  and  martyr. 

I.  The  movement  of  which  Stephen  was  the  product 

AND  representative  MAY  FOR  A  MOMENT  CLAIM  OUR  ATTEN- 
TION. It  casts  a  suggestive  sidelight  on  the  career  of  '*  the 
young  man  Saul." 

Three  streams  of  thought  were  meeting  in  tumultuous 
eddies  in  Jerusalem. 

There  were  the  Jews  of  the  Pharisee  party ^  represented 
by  Gamaliel,  Saul  of  Tarsus,  and  other  notable  men.  They 
were  characterized  by  an  intense  religiousness,  which  circled 
around  their  ancestry,  their  initial  rite,  their  law,  their 
temple.  Were  they  not  Abraham's  children  ?  Had  not 
God  entered  into  special  covenant  relations  with  them,  of 


*THY  MARTYR   STEPHEN-  39 

which  circumcision  was  the  outward  sign  and  seal  ?  Were 
they  not  zealous  in  their  observance  of  the  law,  which  had 
been  uttered  amid  the  thunder  peals  of  Sinai,  not  for  them- 
selves alone,  but  for  the  world  ?  Had  not  their  rabbis  added 
to  it  an  immense  number  of  minute  and  careful  regulations, 
to  which  they  yielded  scrupulous  and  anxious  obedience? 
And  as  for  the  Temple,  the  whole  of  their  national  life  was 
anchored  to  the  spot  where  it  stood.  There  was  the  only 
altar,  priesthood,  shrine,  of  which  their  religion  admitted. 
Though  the  Temple  might  be  a  den  of  thieves,  and  Jerusa- 
lem full  of  uncleanness,  they  felt  that  no  harm  could  befall 
them,  no  fiery  storm  overwhelm.  Like  their  forefathers  in 
Jeremiah's  days,  they  trusted  in  lying  words,  saying,  *'The 
Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  Temple 
of  the  Lord,  are  these  " ;  but  had  no  thought  of  amending 
their  ways  and  their  doings.  Narrow,  casuistical,  bigoted, 
intensely  fanatical;  priding  themselves  on  their  national 
privilege  as  the  chosen  people,  but  resentful  against  the 
appeals  of  the  greatest  of  their  prophets ;  counting  on  the 
efficacy  of  their  system,  but  careless  of  personal  character — 
such  was  the  orthodox  and  conservative  Jewish  party  of  the 
time. 

Next  came  the  Hebrew  Christian  Churchy  led  and  rep- 
resented by  the  Apostles.  To  culture  and  eloquence  they 
laid  no  claim.  Of  founding  a  new  religious  organization 
they  had  no  idea.  That  they  should  ever  live  to  see  Juda- 
ism superseded  by  the  teaching  they  were  giving,  or  Chris- 
tianity existing  apart  from  the  system  in  which  they  had 
been  nurtured,  was  a  thought  which,  in  the  furthest  flights 
of  their  imagination,  never  occurred  to  them.  Their  Master 
had  rigorously  observed  the  Jewish  rites  and  feasts ;  and 
they  followed  in  his  steps,  and  impressed  a  similar  course 
of  action  on  their  adherents.  The  Church  lingered  still  in 
the  portals  of  the  synagogue.     The  disciples  observed  the 


40  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

hours  of  prayer,  were  found  in  devout  attendance  at  the 
Temple's  services,  had  their  children  circumcised,  and 
would  not  have  dreamed  of  being  released  from  the  regu- 
lations that  bound  the  ordinary  Jews  as  with  iron  chains. 
And  it  seems  certain  that,  if  nothing  had  happened  of  the 
nature  of  Stephen's  apology  and  protest,  the  Church  would 
have  become  another  Jewish  sect,  distinguished  by  the  piety 
and  purity  of  its  adherents,  and  by  their  strange  belief  in 
the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  had  been  cruci- 
fied under  Pontius  Pilate. 

Lastly,  there  were  the  converts  from  among  the  Hellenist 
Jews.  In  Acts  vi.  i,  R.v.,  these  are  distinctly  referred  to; 
and  in  verse  9  the  various  synagogues  in  which  they  were 
wont  to  meet  are  enumerated — of  these  Stephen  was  the 
holy  and  eloquent  exponent. 

The  origin  of  the  Hellenist  or  Grecian  Jews  must  be 
traced  back  to  the  captivity,  which  God  overruled  to  pro- 
mote the  dissemination  of  Jewish  conceptions  throughout 
the  world.  It  was  but  a  small  contingent  that  returned  to 
Jerusalem  with  Nehemiah  and  Ezra;  the  vast  majority 
elected  to  remain  in  the  land  of  their  adoption  for  purposes 
of  trade.  They  slowly  spread  thence  throughout  Asia  Minor 
to  the  cities  of  its  seaboard  and  the  highland  districts  of  its 
interior,  planting  everywhere  the  synagogue,  with  its  protest 
on  behalf  of  the  unity  and  the  spirituality  of  God.  Egypt, 
and  especially  Alexandria ;  Greece,  with  her  busy  commer- 
cial seaports;  Rome,  with  her  imperial  cosmopolitan  in- 
fluence— became  familiar  with  the  peculiar  physiognomy 
and  customs  of  this  wonderful  people,  who  always  contrived 
to  secure  for  themselves  a  large  share  of  the  wealth  of  any 
country  in  which  they  had  settled.  But  their  free  contact 
with  the  populace  of  many  lands  wrought  a  remarkable 
change  on  them. 

Whilst  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem  and  Judaea  shrank  from  the 


«r//r  MARTYR   STEPHEN"  41 

defiling  touch  of  heathenism,  and  built  higher  the  wall  of 
separation,  growing  continually  prouder,  more  bitter,  more 
narrow,  the  Jews  that  were  scattered  through  the  world  be- 
came more  liberal  and  cosmopolitan.  They  dropped  their 
Hebrew  mother  tongue  for  Greek ;  they  read  the  Septuagint 
version  of  the  Scriptures ;  their  children  were  influenced  by 
Greek  culture  and  philosophy  ;  they  became  able  to  appre- 
ciate the  purposes  of  God  moving  through  the  channels  of 
universal  history ;  they  learned  that  though  their  fathers  had 
received  the  holy  oracles  for  mankind,  yet  God  had  nowhere 
left  Himself  without  witness.  Compelled,  as  they  were,  to 
relinquish  the  Temple  with  its  holy  rites,  except  on  rare 
and  great  occasions,  when  they  travelled  from  the  ends  of 
the  earth  to  be  present  at  some  great  festival,  they  magnified 
in  its  place  the  synagogue,  with  its  worship,  its  reading  of 
the  law,  its  words  of  exhortation ;  and  they  welcomed  to 
its  precincts  all  who  cared  to  avail  themselves  of  its  privi- 
leges, and  to  set  their  faces  towards  the  God  of  Abraham. 
Many  of  these  open-minded  Hellenist  Jews,  when  they  had 
passed  the  meridian  of  their  days  in  successful  trade,  came 
back  and  settled  in  Jerusalem.  The  different  countries  from 
which  they  hailed  were  represented  by  special  synagogues : 
one  of  the  Libertines  who  had  been  freed  from  slavery, 
one  of  the  Cyrenians,  one  of  the  Alexandrians,  one  of  them 
of  Cilicia  and  of  Asia.  The  mention  of  the  latter  is  specially 
interesting  when  we  recall  that  the  chief  city  of  Cilicia  was 
Tarsus. 

After  some  years  of  absence,  Paul  returned  to  settle  at 
Jerusalem.  It  is  possible  that  its  Jewish  leaders,  having 
been  impressed  by  his  remarkable  talents  and  enthusiastic 
devotion  to  Judaism,  had  summoned  him  to  take  part  in,  or 
lead,  that  opposition  to  Christianity,  to  which  events  were 
daily  more  irrevocably  committing  them.  It  is  almost  cer- 
tain, also,  that  to  facilitate  his  operations  he  was  at  this 


42  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

time  nominated  to  a  seat  in  the  Sanhedrim,  which  enabled 
him  to  give  his  vote  against  the  followers  of  Jesus  (Acts 
xxvi.  lo). 

His  first  impressions  about  the  followers  of  **  the  Way," 
as  the  early  disciples  were  termed,  were  wholly  unfavor- 
able. It  seemed  to  him  sheer  madness  to  suppose  that  the 
crucified  Nazarene  could  be  the  long-looked -for  Messiah, 
or  that  He  had  risen  from  the  dead.  He,  therefore,  threw 
himself  into  the  breach,  and  took  the  lead  in  disputing  with 
Stephen,  who  had  just  been  raised  to  office  in  the  nascent 
Church ;  and,  not  content  with  the  conservative  and  timid 
attitude  which  the  Apostles  had  preserved  for  some  five 
years,  was  now  leading  an  aggressive  and  forward  policy. 

II.  The  Burden  of  Stephen's  Testimony,  which  he 
gave  with  such  wisdom  and  grace  in  the  synagogues  of 
Jerusalem,  and  especially  in  the  Cilician,  may  be  gathered 
from  his  apology,  which,  while  touching  chords  that 
vibrated  most  deeply  in  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  and 
appearing  merely  to  rehearse  the  great  story  of  the  past, 
was  intended  as  his  own  vindication  and  defence.  It  is 
a  marvellous  address,  the  whole  meaning  of  which  can  only 
be  realized  when  his  position  and  circumstances  are  borne 
in  mind.  It  was  the  first  attempt  to  read  the  story  of  God's 
dealings  with  Israel  in  the  light  of  Christ;  the  earliest 
commentary  on  the  Old  Testament  by  the  New ;  the  frag- 
mentary draft  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews;  the  suggestion 
to  at  least  one  of  his  hearers  of  a  deeper  way  of  studying 
the  lessons  of  Mosaism.  The  mystery  which  had  been 
hidden  from  ages  and  generations,  and  which  was  probably 
still  hidden  even  from  the  Apostles,  was  made  known  to 
this  Christian  Hellenist  Jew.  His  eyes  were  the  first  that 
were  opened  to  see  that  the  old  covenant  was  becoming  old, 
and  was  nigh  to  vanishing  away,  because  on  the  point  of 


«7/yr  MARTYR   STEPHEN"  43 

being  superseded  by  that  better  hope,  through  which  all 
men  might  draw  nigh  to  God. 

Can  we  not  imagine  those  eager  disputings  in  the  Cilician 
synagogue  between  these  two  ardent  and  vehement  spirits, 
close  akin  at  heart,  as  the  future  would  show,  though  now 
apparently  so  far  divided.  Each  thoroughly  versed  in 
Scripture,  each  agile  in  argument  and  strong  of  soul,  each 
devoted  to  the  holy  traditions  of  the  past;  but  the  one 
blinded  by  an  impenetrable  vail,  whilst  to  the  other  heaven 
was  open,  and  the  Son  of  Man  was  revealed  standing  at  the 
right  hand  of  God. 

Like  most  who  speak  God's  truth  for  the  first  time, 
Stephen  was  greatly  misunderstood.  We  gather  this  from 
the  charges  made  against  him  by  the  false  witnesses,  whom 
the  Sanhedrim  suborned.  They  accused  him  of  uttering 
blasphemous  words  against  Moses,  of  speaking  against  the 
Temple  and  the  law,  of  declaring  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
would  destroy  the  Temple,  and  change  the  customs  de- 
livered by  Moses.  And  as  we  attentively  follow  his  argu- 
ment, we  can  see  how  it  was  that  these  impressions  had 
been  caused. 

Sau/  would  expatiate  on  the  glories  of  the  Temple y  stand- 
ing on  the  site  where  for  centuries  Jehovah  had  been 
worshipped.  But  Stephen  would  insist  that  any  holy  soul 
might  worship  God  in  the  temple  of  his  own  soul ;  that 
there  was  no  temple  in  the  old  time  when  God  spake  to 
Abraham  and  the  patriarchs ;  that  David  was  discouraged 
from  building  one;  and  that  at  the  time  of  its  dedication 
Solomon  expressly  acknowledged  that  God  did  not  dwell  in 
temples  made  with  hands. 

Saul  would  insist  on  the  necessity  of  the  rite  of  circum- 
cision. But  Stephen  would  argue  that  it  could  not  be  all- 
important,  since  God  made  promises  to  Abraham  long  before 
that  rite  was  instituted. 


44  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Saul  would  show  the  unlikelihood  of  Jesus  beifjg  God's 
Deliverer f  because  He  was  unrecognized  by  the  leaders  and 
shepherds  of  Israel.  Stephen  would  rejoin  that  there  was 
nothing  extraordinary  in  this,  since  Joseph  had  been  sold 
for  jealousy,  and  Moses  rejected  on  three  distinct  occasions. 
** Which  of  the  prophets  did  not  your  fathers  persecute?" 

Saul  said  that  all  the  prophets  pointed  to  the  glorious 
advent  of  the  Messiah.  Stephen  reviewed  Moses,  the 
Prophets,  and  the  Psalms,  and  showed  that  it  behoved  the 
Christ  to  suffer. 

Saul  affirmed  that  nothing  could  supersede  Moses. 
Stephen  quoted  Moses  himself  as  asserting  that  the  Lord 
God  would  raise  up  a  greater  prophet  than  himself. 

All  this  Stephen  affirmed  with  the  greatest  reverence 
and  awe.  He  spoke  of  the  God  of  Glory;  of  the  great 
ones  of  the  past  as  **  our  fathers  "  ;  of  the  angel  that  spake 
at  Sinai;  and  the  living  oracles  of  Scripture.  And  yet 
it  is  undeniable  that  he  saw  with  undimmed  vision  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  must  change  the  customs  which  Moses 
delivered,  and  lead  his  Church  into  more  spiritual  aspects 
of  truth. 

How  little  he  weened  that  he  was  dropping  seed-germs 
into  the  heart  of  his  chief  opponent,  that  were  to  bear 
harvests  to  one  hundredfold — nay,  to  many  millions-fold, 
through  the  centuries,  and  in  the  broad  harvest  field  of 
the  world  !  Thus  a  plant  may  yield  one  white  flower,  but 
the  seeds  it  drops  may  live  and  bloom  again  in  uncounted 
springs. 

But  as  the  battle  rose  and  fell  within  the  walls  of  that 
Cilician  synagogue,  it  was  an  amazing  conflict.  Here 
ancient  authority,  there  individual  responsibility.  Here  the 
bondage  of  the  letter,  there  the  freedom  of  the  spirit.  Here 
the  priest  and  ecclesiastic,  there  the  Spirit  taught  and  led 
of  God.     Here  bigotry  and  pride,  there  humility  and  in- 


''THY  MARTYR   STEPHEN"  45 

sight.  Here  the  shackels  of  the  prison  of  the  soul,  there 
the  open  heaven.  In  miniature  it  was  the  battle  of  all  the 
ages,  the  one  eternal  conflict  between  form  and  spirit,  be- 
tween a  false  religiousness  and  the  religion  of  the  soul, 
which  stands  unveiled  before  God. 

III.  His  Martyrdom. — We  know  little  of  Stephen's 
life.  It  was  more  than  probable,  as  we  have  already  said, 
that  he  knew  Jesus  in  his  earthly  life,  for  he  instantly 
recognized  Him  in  the  heavenly  vision.  Perhaps  he  had 
followed  Him  during  the  latter  part  of  his  ministry ;  he 
could  at  least  describe  Him  as  the  Righteous  or  Just  One, 
as  though  he  had  had  ample  opportunity  of  appraising  his 
blameless  worth.  Surely  he  must  have  seen  Him  die ;  for 
the  traits  of  his  dying  beauty  moulded  his  own  last  hours. 
How  meekly  to  bear  his  cross ;  to  plead  for  his  murderers 
with  a  divine  charity ;  to  breathe  his  departing  spirit  into 
unseen  hands ;  to  find  in  death  the  gate  of  life,  and  amid 
the  horror  of  a  public  execution  the  secret  of  calm  and 
peace — all  these  were  rays  of  light  caught  from  the  Cross 
where  his  Master  had  poured  out  his  soul  unto  death. 

This,  too,  powerfully  affected  Paul.  That  light  on  the 
martyr's  face ;  that  evident  glimpse  into  the  unseen  Holy ; 
those  words;  that  patience  and  forgiveness;  that  peace 
which  enwrapt  his  mangled  body,  crushed  and  bleeding, 
as  he  fell  asleep — he  could  never  forget  them.  Long  years 
after,  when  a  similar  scene  of  hate  was  environing  himself, 
he  reverted  to  Christ's  martyr,  Stephen,  and  counted  it  a 
high  honor  meekly  to  follow  in  his  steps.  Not  only  did  he 
mould  his  own  great  speeches  on  the  model  of  that  never- 
to-be-forgotten  address ;  not  only  did  those  conceptions  of 
the  spiritual  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom  affect  his  whole 
after-teaching  and  ministry  :  but  the  very  light  that  radiated 
from  that  strong,  sweet,  noble  character  seemed  to  have 


46  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

been  absorbed  by  his  spirit,  to  be  radiated  forth  again  in 
much  patience,  in  afflictions,  in  necessities,  in  distresses, 
in  strifes,  in  tumults,  in  pureness,  in  knowledge,  in  long- 
suffering,  in  kindness,  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  love  unfeigned. 
It  is  thus  that  the  martyr  Church  has  ever  overcome  by 
the  word  of  her  testimony,  because  the  saints  have  loved 
not  their  lives  even  unto  death.  The  blood  of  the  martyrs 
is  the  seed  of  the  Church.  The  destruction  of  the  flower  is 
the  scattering  of  its  pollen.  The  hammer  is  broken  on  its 
anvil.  The  power  of  the  persecutor  is  overcome  by  the 
patience  of  his  victims.  Saul,  at  whose  feet  witnesses  lay 
down  their  clothes,  is  catching  up  and  assuming  the  mantle 
of  the  departing  prophet  and  saint. 


%  Ctgljt  from  ^tauxi 

(Acts  xxvi.  13.) 

w  As  to  Thy  last  Apostle's  heart 
Thy  lightning  glance  did  then  impart 
Zeal's  never-dying  fire." 

Keble. 

IF  the  importance  of  events  can  be  estimated  by  the 
amount  of  space  given  in  Scripture  to  their  narration, 
the  arrest  placed  by  the  risen  Lord  upon  the  career  of  Saul 
of  Tarsus  must  take  the  second  place  in  the  story  of  the 
New  Testament.  It  is  described  three  times,  with  great 
minuteness  of  detail — first  by  Luke,  and  twice  by  himself — 
and  the  narration  occupies  more  space  than  the  story  of 
any  other  event  except  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord. 

This  must  be  accounted  for,  partly  because  of  the  im- 
portant part  played  by  the  Apostle  in  the  moulding  of  the 
early  Church,  and  partly  because  his  conversion  was  due  to 
the  personal  agency  of  the  risen  Lord,  who  appeared  as 
literally  as  during  any  of  the  appearances  of  the  Forty  Days. 
This  was  no  mere  vision,  like  that  which  John  had  when 
he  was  in  the  Spirit,  no  mere  transient  impression  on  the 
sensitive  plate  of  the  imagination,  no  evanescent,  dream- 
like fancy;  but  a  manifestation  of  the  risen  Lord,  like 
that  which  won  the  faith  of  Thomas. 

It  was  one  of  the  deepest  convictions  of  the  Apostle  in  all 
his  after  life  that  he  had  veritably  and  certainly  seen  the 
Lord ;  and  was  therefore  as  really  empowered  to  be  a  wit- 

47 


48  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

ness  of  his  resurrection  as  any  who  had  companied  with 
Him,  beginning  from  the  baptism  of  John  until  the  day 
that  He  was  received  up.  *' Am  I  not  an  Apostle?  Have 
I  not  seen  Jesus  our  Lord?"  he  asks  (i  Cor.  ix.  i,  r.  v.). 
And  after  enumerating  the  Lord's  appearances  after  his 
resurrection,  he  adds,  placing  that  scene  on  the  road  to 
Damascus  on  a  level  with  the  rest,  **  Last  of  all,  as  unto 
one  born  out  of  due  time.  He  appeared  to  me  also  "  (xv. 
8,  R.  v.).  Ananias  used  the  same  phrase  when,  entering 
the  darkened  chamber  in  which  the  Apostle  lay  like  an 
eagle  with  broken  wing,  he  said,  *'  The  Lord,  even  Jesus, 
who  appeared  unto  thee  in  the  way  which  thou  camest, 
hath  sent  me." 

Six  days  before,  Saul  had  left  Jerusalem  with  a  small 
retinue  furnished  as  his  escort  by  the  high  priest.  The 
journey  was  long  and  lonely,  giving  time  for  reflection,  of 
which  he  had  known  but  little  during  the  crowding  events 
of  the  previous  months.  He  had  been  too  closely  occupied 
by  those  domiciliary  visits,  those  constant  trials,  those 
scourgings,  tortures,  and  martyrdoms  ;  and  in  the  incessant 
occupation  he  had  been  drifting  with  the  rush  of  events, 
without  taking  his  bearings  or  realizing  their  precise  direc- 
tion. 

It  was  high  noon.  Unlike  most  travellers,  he  forebore  to 
spend  even  an  hour  in  the  retirement  of  his  tent  for  shelter 
from  the  downward  rays  of  the  sun,  piercing  like  swords, 
whilst  all  the  air  was  breathless  with  the  heat.  He  was  too 
weary  of  his  own  musings,  too  eager  to  be  at  his  work. 
Suddenly  the  little  cavalcade  left  the  stony  wastes  over 
which  the  track  had  lain,  and  began  to  pass  beneath  "the 
flickering  shadows  of  ancient  olives,"  whilst  Damascus  sud- 
denly came  into  view,  amid  a  soft  haze  of  verdure  :  its 
gardens,  orchards,  and  groves  making  an  emerald  setting 
for  its  terraced  roofs  and  white  glistening  cupolas. 


Jl  LIGHT  FROM  HEAVEN  49 

The  goal  of  the  long  journey  was  well  in  sight.  Within 
an  hour  or  two  he  would  be  within  the  gates,  and  traversing 
the  street  called  Straight,  to  deliver  his  commission  to  the 
authorities,  and  to  ascertain  the  best  point  for  commencing 
proceedings.  But  suddenly  a  great  light — above  the  bright- 
ness of  the  Syrian  noontide  sun — shone  around  him ;  and 
a  voice,  amid  the  blaze,  unintelligible  and  inarticulate  to 
his  companions,  though  clear  enough  to  himself,  was  heard, 
speaking  in  the  familiar  Aramaic,  and  calling  him  by  name 
(Acts  xxvi.  14). 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  in  the  light  of  the  passages  we 
have  noticed,  as  to  the  origin  of  that  light — it  came  straight 
from  the  face  of  the  glorified  Saviour.  With  some  such 
light  as  this  it  had  become  illumined  on  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration,  when  his  face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his 
garments  grew  white  as  the  light,  and  all  the  snows  around 
reflected  the  golden  sheen.  Something  of  the  same  beauty 
and  splendor  was  described  by  John  in  after  years,  when 
he  tells  of  the  vision  given  him  in  Patmos;  but  even  this 
must  have  fallen  far  behind  the  Master's  actual  appearance 
on  the  way  to  Damascus.  In  the  one  case  his  countenance 
was  as  when  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength  :  in  the  other 
its  glory  was  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun. 

In  the  light  of  that  moment  the  Apostle  saw  many  things. 
It  was  like  a  sudden  flash  light  flung  over  an  abyss,  reveal- 
ing secret  things  which  had  been  entirely  hidden,  or  but 
dimly  understood. 

I7i  the  glory  of  that  light  he  became  convinced  of  the  truth 
of  Christianity.  His  objection  to  Christianity  was  not  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  had  been  crucified.  Had  this  been  all, 
the  young  Pharisee  would  have  respected  Him.  His  blame- 
less life ;  his  teaching  of  the  spirituality  and  unity  of  the 
Divine  Nature  ;  his  belief  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead ; 
his  fearless  exposure  of  what  was  false  and  vicious,  would 


60  PAUL:  ^  SERK4NT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

even  have  attracted  his  admiration.  But  it  was  intolerable 
that  He  should  pose  as  the  Messiah,  or  that  his  followers 
should  charge  the  rulers  with  the  murder  of  the  long-ex- 
pected King. 

There  was  only  one  thing  that  could  convince  him.  He 
must  see  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  he  knew  to  have 
been  crucified,  living  on  the  other  side  of  death :  he  must 
be  able  to  recognize  and  establish  his  identity :  he  must 
hear  Him  speak.  Such  evidence  given  to  himself  would 
be  conclusive;  but  nothing  less  would  avail.  If  from 
heaven  the  Man  of  Nazareth  and  the  Cross  were  to  speak 
to  Him,  radiant  with  light,  exerting  Divine  power — his 
objections  would  be  scattered,  and  with  another  of  his 
followers  he  would  be  compelled  to  cry,  "  My  Lord  and 
my  God!" 

But  this  very  revelation  was  made  to  him.  It  could  not 
be  a  dream,  a  vision,  an  hallucination.  He  was  too  sane 
to  base  the  entire  change  of  his  career  upon  anything  so 
flimsy ;  and  in  his  writings  he  always  distinguishes  between 
these,  and  that  appearance  of  the  Lord  on  the  road  to 
Damascus.  No,  as  Barnabas  said  afterwards,  by  way  of 
explanation  to  the  Apostles,  "  he  saw  the  Lord  in  the  way, 
and  the  Lord  spoke  to  him."  He  felt  instantly  that  life 
must  have  henceforward  a  new  meaning  and  purpose,  and 
he  must  live  to  establish  the  faith  of  which  he  had  made 
such  determined  havoc. 

In  the  glory  of  that  light  he  beheld  the  supreme  revelation 
of  God,  Nature  had  told  something  of  God.  His  glory 
had  shone  from  rolling  worlds,  and  from  the  outspread 
expanse  of  oceans  and  seas;  had  covered  morning  skies 
with  daffodil,  and  evening  clouds  with  crimson  and  gold ; 
had  goldened  in  the  harvest  fields  and  kindled  around  bush 
and  brake,  flower  and  bracken.  From  the  first,  God  had 
pot  left  Himself  without  witness^  in  that  He  did  good,  an^ 


^  LIGHT  FROM  HEAVEN  51 

gave  rains  from  heaven  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  men's 
hearts  with  food  and  gladness.  The  heavens  had  told  his 
glory,  and  the  firmament  shown  his  handiwork.  Day  unto 
day  had  uttered  speech  of  Him,  though  there  was  neither 
speech  nor  language.  Night  unto  night  had  shown  knowl- 
edge, though  their  voice  could  not  be  heard.  Thus 
through  the  things  that  had  been  made,  the  invisible  things 
of  God  had  been  revealed,  even  his  everlasting  power 
and  divinity.  But  this  light  was  above  the  brightness  of 
the  sun,  and  made  all  Nature's  wonders  pale,  as  stars  at 
dawn. 

There  had  been  a  further  revelation  to  Israel.  The  light 
that  shone  on  the  face  of  Moses  was  emblematic  of  the 
fuller  disclosures  of  Himself  which  God  gave  to  his  chosen 
people.  So  excellent  was  that  light  that  the  children  of 
Israel  could  not  look  steadfastly  upon  Moses  for  the  glory 
of  his  face,  and  he  was  finally  compelled  to  cover  it  with  a 
vail.  But  that  vail  also  had  become  emblematic  of  the 
blindness  of  Israel  to  the  greatness  of  the  revelation  made 
to  them. 

But  the  glory  of  God  on  the  face  of  Jesus  was  above  the 
brightness  of  any  previous  dispensation.  That  was  of  the 
letter,  this  of  the  spirit ;  that  was  the  ministration  of  death, 
this  of  life ;  that  was  temporary,  and  passed  away,  this  was 
the  final  and  permanent  outshining  of  the  love  of  God. 
There  is  no  conceivable  method  of  Divine  manifestation 
that  can  excel  the  light  which  shines  from  the  face  of  Jesus. 
They  were  human  features  that  looked  down  on  the  per- 
secutor through  the  open  doorway  of  heaven ;  but  they  were 
aglow  with  the  light  of  that  Shekinah  which  passed  between 
the  pieces  of  Abraham's  sacrifices,  shone  in  the  burning 
bush,  lighted  the  march  of  Israel  through  the  Red  Sea,  and 
at  the  dedication  of  Solomon's  Temple  drove  the  priests 
before  its  waves  of  billowy  glory  from  the  holy  place  into 


52  Py4UL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

the  outer  court.  He  beheld  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  whom  he  had  persecuted. 

Would  you  know  God  ?  You  must  study  Him  in  Jesus. 
So  utterly  did  the  Son  of  Man  renounce  his  own  words, 
and  works,  and  will,  that  we  know  comparatively  little  of 
Him.  All  was  from  the  Father,  and  to  the  Father.  The 
words  He  spake  were  the  Father's ;  the  works  He  wrought 
the  Father's ;  the  reconciliation  perfected  for  erring  man, 
achieved  through  Him  by  the  Father,  who  was  **  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  to  Himself."  We  need  nothing 
beyond ;  there  is  nothing  beyond.  In  heaven  itself  we 
shall  still  behold  the  light  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face 
of  Jesus,  our  eyes  getting  stronger  to  bear  it,  our  insight 
being  always  deeper  and  more  perfect.  That  light  shone 
before  the  first  ray  of  sunlight  gleamed  over  the  abyss; 
and  it  will  shine  when  sun,  moon,  and  stars  are  dark  and 
cold. 

In  the  Revelation  of  that  Light  Saul  of  Tarsus 

SAW  THE    REAL    NATURE    OF    THE  WaR  WHICH    HE  HAD  BEEN 

WAGING  AGAINST  THE  RELIGION  OF  Jesus. — The  earliest 
name  of  the  new  sect,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  Way. 
In  after  years  the  Apostle  was  proud  to  adopt  and  use  it : 
'*  I  confess  unto  thee,  that  after  the  Way,  which  they  call  a 
sect,  so  serve  I  the  God  of  our  fathers."  It  was  a  pathetic 
and  significant  title ;  these  simple  souls  had  found  a  new 
and  living  way  to  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  God, 
consecrated  through  the  rent  flesh  of  Him  whom  their 
chief  priests  and  rulers  had  delivered  up  to  be  condemned 
to  death. 

The  young  man  Saul  was  exceedingly  mad  against  the 
pilgrims  of  the  Way.  He  made  havoc  of  them,  and  the 
word  is  that  which  would  be  used  of  wild  boars  uprooting 
tender  vines.     He   devastated   them,  with  the  fury  of  an 


tA  LIGHT  FROM  HEAl^EN  53 

invading  army.  Not  content  with  attacks  on  their  public 
meetings,  he  paid  visits  to  their  homes,  dragging  forth  the 
patient,  holy  women  as  well  as  the  uncomplaining  men, 
scourging  them,  thrusting  them  iuto  prison,  putting  them  to 
death,  and  compelling  them  to  blaspheme  the  holy  name 
by  which  they  were  called.  He  breathed  out  threatening 
and  slaughter,  as  a  cruel  monster  might  snort  fire.  He  was 
so  mad  against  them,  that  when  the  Church  at  Jerusalem 
lay  desolate,  and  its  garden  was  torn  and  trampled  into  a 
desert,  he  pursued  the  same  methods  in  distant  cities, 
and  on  the  present  memorable  occasion  had  received  letters 
to  bring  those  of  the  Way  that  were  there  in  bonds  unto 
Jerusalem  to  be  punished. 

Great  prospects  began  then  to  unfold  before  the  persecutor, 
and  though  his  tender  nature  must  have  revolted  from  his 
sanguinary  and  ruthless  efforts,  though  the  sight  of  suffering 
inflicted  at  his  instigation  must  have  been  very  abhorrent, 
he  was  incited  to  pursue  the  path  he  had  entered  by  the 
enthusiastic  encomiums  and  plaudits  of  his  co-religionists. 

There  was,  however,  a  deeper  motive  at  work.  **  I  verily 
thought  I  ought."  This  work  of  extermination  seemed  to 
him  part  of  his  religious  duty.  He  owed  it  to  God  to 
stamp  out  the  followers  of  Jesus,  and  the  more  revolting  it 
was  to  his  nature,  the  more  meritorious  it  was  in  the  sight 
of  heaven.  Might  not  these  efforts  condone  for  a  coming 
short  in  respect  to  the  demands  of  God's  law,  which  now 
and  again  forced  itself  home  on  his  inner  consciousness  ? 
Might  not  his  victory  over  the  reluctance  of  his  heart  be 
expiatory  and  atone  for  many  failures?  But,  like  the 
Roman  soldiers  who  crucified  the  Lord,  he  knew  not  what 
he  did.  '*I  was  a  blasphemer,  and  a  persecutor,  and  in- 
jurious; howbeit  I  obtained  mercy,  because  I  did  it 
ignorantly  in  unbelief." 

As,  however,  that  light  fell  upon  his  path,  he  suddenly 


54  PAUL:  Jl  SERVAUT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

awoke  to  discover  that,  instead  of  serving  God,  he  was  in 
collision  with  Him,  and  was  actually  uprooting  and 
ravaging  that  for  which  the  Son  of  his  love  had  expended 
tears  and  blood.  In  persecuting  the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes 
he  was  persecuting  the  Son  of  God.  By  every  blow  he 
struck  at  the  infant  Church,  he  was  lacerating  those  hands 
and  piercing  that  side.  By  every  sigh  and  groan  extorted 
from  the  members  of  the  Body  he  had  elicited  from  the 
Head  in  heaven  the  remonstrance,  *'Saul!  Saul!  why 
persecutest  thou  Me?"  It  was  a  terrible  and  overwhelm- 
ing discovery.  The  earth  seemed  to  yawn  before  him. 
Somehow  his  religion  had  brought  him  into  collision  with 
God  in  the  person  of  those  who  were  dear  to  Him,  and 
evidently,  instead  of  their  being  wrong  and  he  right,  they 
were  right,  and  he  wrong;  instead  of  his  fanatical  zeal 
being  pleasing  to  God  it  was  grievous  to  Him,  and  heaping 
up  wrath  against  a  day  of  wrath.  Ah  !  it  is  an  awful 
discovery  when  a  great  light  from  heaven  shows  a  man 
that  what  he  has  regarded  his  solemn  duty  has  been  one 
long  sin  against  the  dearest  purposes  of  God. 

That  Light  also  revealed  the  Inadequacy  of  his 
Religious  Life. — He  had  lived  out  all  that  he  thought  to 
be  right.  There  was  no  prescription  of  the  elders  to  which 
he  had  not  conformed.  So  far  as  he  knew  what  religion 
prescribed,  he  was  blameless.  Yea,  had  he  not  gone 
beyond  its  prescriptions  in  the  zeal  with  which  he  had 
harried  the  Church  ?  But  of  late  he  had  been  compelled 
to  confess  to  a  dull  sense  of  uneasiness  and  dissatisfaction. 
He  studiously  fought  against  it  by  immersing  himself  more 
sedulously  than  ever  in  the  work  of  persecution  ;  yet  there 
it  was,  and  sometimes  the  evil  thing  (as  he  thought  it)  cast 
a  petrifying  glance  upon  his  utmost  efforts. 

Two  causes  further  instigated  this  uneasiness.     First,  he 


^  LIGHT  FROM  HEAl^EN  55 

felt  that  his  religion  did  not  satisfy  him  ]  it  gave  him  no 
such  tender  views  of  the  love  of  God  as  had  impressed 
Moses  or  Daniel,  and  it  seemed  ineffective  to  curb  the 
imperious  demands  of  sin.  Often  the  good  he  would  he 
did  not,  whilst  the  evil  he  hated  he  did.  Often  he  felt 
himself  a  captive,  sold  under  sin.  Often  he  cried  aloud 
that  he  was  a  wretched  man  bound  to  an  intolerable  yoke, 
which  chafed  him  to  the  quick.  And  there  seemed  no 
deliverance.  Always  those  cases  of  minute  casuistry, 
always  the  same  exactions  of  outward  obedience,  always 
the  same  weary  sense  of  failure  as  the  attempt  to  spend  one 
day  of  perfect  obedience  was  reviewed  from  the  evening 
hour.     Was  there  nothing  better  ? 

Then  it  seemed  as  though  these  humble  disciples  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  had  something  better.  The  meekness 
with  which  they  bore  their  sufferings  was  far  removed  from 
obstinacy ;  the  purity  of  their  home  life  vindicated  their 
professions ;  the  light  that  shone  upon  their  dying  faces ;  the 
prayers  for  their  persecutors,  which  they  offered  with  their 
dying  breath,  evidenced  the  possession  of  a  secret  of  which 
he  knew  that  he  was  destitute.  Could  that  religion  be  right 
which  threw  him  into  antagonism  with  such  lovely  traits 
and  characteristics?  Besides,  he  had  often  heard  them 
speaking  of  their  Teacher,  his  life  of  beneficence,  his  pure 
and  lofty  teachings,  his  maxims  for  the  regulation  of  the 
inner  life,  his  directions  for  the  behavior  of  his  followers 
— and  when  they  did  so  they  touched  chords  which 
responded  deep  down  in  his  soul.  It  seemed  to  him 
sometimes  as  though  this  Nazarene  had  discovered  the 
Pearl  of  great  price,  and  held  the  secret  of  a  Blessed  Life. 
Yet  how  could  He  be  the  Messiah  who  had  come  to  such 
an  end  !  And  how  absurd  it  was  to  say  that  He  had  risen, 
when  the  Roman  sentries  had  solemnly  averred  that  his 
body  had  been  stolen  by  his  disciples,  whilst  they  slept. 


56  PAUL:  ^  SERyANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

But  all  these  questionings  about  his  religious  life  were 
brought  to  a  head  and  confirmed  when  suddenly  he  beheld 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  enthroned  on  the  right  hand  of  power, 
and  shining  with  a  light  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun. 
What  could  he  say  of  a  righteousness  which  had  led  him  to 
reject  and  persecute  the  Son  of  God  ?  Of  what  value  was 
it?  Surely  that  which  had  led  him  to  reject  and  persecute 
the  Son  of  God  Himself  in  the  persons  of  his  adherents 
must  have  been  a  deadly  and  pernicious  delusion.  He  had 
thought  himself  blameless ;  but  in  the  beam  of  that  light 
he  discovered  that  he  was  of  all  sinners  the  chief,  that  he 
was  not  worthy  to  be  called  a  son,  and  might  be  thankful 
if  he  were  numbered  among  the  hired  servants. 

Now,  TOO,  HE  DISCOVERED  THE  SoURCE  OF  HIS  UNEASI- 
NESS OF  Heart  and  Conscience. — Hitherto  he  may  have 
attributed  it  to  a  morbid  and  melancholic  element  in  his 
constitution,  to  the  reaction  of  his  mind  from  the  sight  of 
suffering,  to  a  weakness  of  which  he  ought  to  rid  himself  as 
speedily  as  possible.  He  now  saw  that  these  strivings  were 
the  prickings  of  the  great  Husbandman's  goad,  by  which 
He  had  long  been  attempting  to  bring  him  into  that  atti- 
tude, and  lead  him  to  undertake  that  life  work  which  had 
been  prepared  for  him  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

When  the  Master  said,  '*  It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick 
against  the  goad,"  his  speech  betrayed  Him.  It  was  said 
of  Him  during  his  earthly  ministry  that  without  a  parable 
He  did  not  speak  to  his  people.  Now  from  heaven  his  lips 
took  up  the  wonted  strain.  He  likened  Himself  to  one 
who  had  purchased  a  young  heifer  at  a  great  price.  He 
has  brought  it  into  the  field  to  drag  the  plough  in  a  certain 
direction ;  but  it  resists  and  seeks  another,  compelling  its 
owner  to  use  the  sharply-pointed  goad,  pressing  it  against 
its  flanks  till  it  obeys  his  will.     Saul  suddenly  awoke  to  find 


Ji  LIGHT  FROM  HEAVEN  67 

that  he  had  been  purchased  by  the  Lord,  who  had  been 
seeking  for  a  long  time  to  make  him  take  the  predestined 
track,  and  that  all  the  bitter  remorse  of  conscience  had  been 
intended  for  this  sole  purpose.  It  was  a  new  conception  of 
the  religious  life.  Henceforth  he  was  not  to  do  his  own 
prompting,  but  God's ;  not  to  be  clothed  in  his  own  right- 
eousness, but  in  God's ;  not  to  cut  up  and  destroy,  but  to 
construct ;  not  to  oppose  the  Nazarene,  but  to  take  his  yoke, 
to  bear  his  burden,  to  do  his  will. 

That  Light  also  revealed  to  him  the  Course  of  his 
Future  Life. — Henceforth  he  was  to  be  a  minister  and  a 
witness  of  those  things  which  he  had  seen,  and  of  those  in 
which  Christ  would  still  appear  to  him.  All  that  was  re- 
quired of  him  was  to  live  in  unbroken  accord  with  the 
risen  Saviour,  beholding  his  beauty,  inquiring  in  his  temple, 
receiving  his  messages  for  transmission  to  others. 

It  was  enough.  He  meekly  asked  what  he  must  do ; 
what  the  new  and  rightful  Master  of  his  life  would  have 
him  do.  And  in  answer,  he  was  told  to  take  the  next  step, 
which  lay  just  before  him,  and  suffer  himself  to  be  led  into 
the  city.  He  little  weened  how  great  things  he  would  have 
to  suffer  (Acts  ix.  i6).  These  were  a  secret  which  Christ 
whispered  in  the  ear  of  his  friend,  Ananias.  It  would  be 
enough  for  the  new  convert  to  learn  it  afterwards.  After 
all,  men  do  as  much  by  suffering  as  by  active  toil ;  and  the 
world  owes  as  much  to  the  anguish  of  its  martyrs  as  to  the 
words  and  deeds  of  its  apologists  and  workers. 

And  then  there  arose  before  him  in  a  flash  on  the  high 
road,  and  in  fuller  development  during  the  three  days'  re- 
tirement in  the  house  of  Judas,  the  Lord's  ideal  of  his  life 
— that  he  should  be  sent  to  Jew  and  Gentile ;  that  by  his 
simple  witness  he  would  be  used  to  open  blind  eyes ;  that 
men  might  turn  from  darkness  to  light,  from  the  power  of 


58  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Satan  unto  God,  so  as  to  receive  remission  of  sin  and  in- 
heritance among  the  sanctified.  That  conception  moulded 
his  life,  lingered  always  in  his  memory,  and  formed  the 
basis  of  one  of  his  noblest  outbursts  (Col.  i.) 

To  know  the  Divine  will,  to  see  the  righteous  One,  to 
hear  a  voice  from  his  mouth,  to  be  his  witness  and  chosen 
vessel,  to  bear  his  name  before  Gentiles  and  kings  and  the 
children  of  Israel,  such  was  henceforth  the  prize  of  the 
mark  of  his  high  calling  towards  which  he  began  to  press 
(Acts  ix.  15  ;  xxii.  14).  He  felt  that  he  had  been  appre- 
hended ;  he  realized  something  of  the  purpose  for  which  he 
had  been  apprehended ;  and  with  patient  faith  he  resolved, 
so  far  as  in  him  lay,  to  apprehend  it. 

How  could  he  be  other  than  obedient  to  the  heavenly 
vision  that  summoned  him  to  a  life  of  self-sacrificing  toil? 
As  a  token  of  his  meek  submission,  he  allowed  them  to  lead 
him  by  the  hand  into  the  city,  which  he  had  expected  to 
enter  as  an  inquisitor ;  and  bent  low  to  receive  instruction 
from  one  of  those  simple-hearted  believers,  whom  he  had 
expected  to  drag  captive  to  Jerusalem.  Such  are  the  tri- 
umphs of  the  grace  of  God,  and  in  his  case  it  was  shown 
to  be  exceedingly  abundant. 


VI 

®l)e  Inner  Hexjelafwn  of  €l)ri0t 

(Galatians  i.  15-17.) 

"  The  proudest  heart  that  ever  beat. 
Hath  been  subdued  in  me ; 
The  wildest  will  that  ever  rose — 
To  scorn  thy  cause,  or  aid  thy  foes- 
Is  quelled,  my  God,  by  Thee  ! 

"  Thy  will,  and  not  my  will,  be  done : 
Henceforth  I'd  be  forever  thine ; 
Confessing  Thee,  the  living  Word, 
My  Saviour  Christ,  my  God,  my  Lord, 
Thy  Cross  shall  be  my  sign ! "  W.  HoNE. 

IN  these  wonderful  verses  we  have  an  epitome  of  the 
Apostle  Paul's  life.  There  is,  first,  his  separation  in 
the  Divine  purpose  before  his  birth  for  the  high  and  blessed 
work  of  ministering  the  Gospel ;  then  his  vocation  by  the 
grace  of  God,  when  a  voice  called  to  him  which  his  pre- 
pared ear  detected,  though  to  others  it  was  as  thunder; 
then  the  three  successive  steps  with  which  we  have  to  do 
now — the  revelation  of  Christ ;  the  ministration  of  human 
sympathy  and  help ;  and  his  isolation  in  Arabia ;  whilst,  to 
crown  all,  there  is  afforded  an  indication  of  his  life  work  of 
preaching  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ. 

How  different  to  his  anticipation  was  Saul's  entrance  into 
Damascus  !  He  had  probably  often  solaced  himself  during 
his  weary  six-days'   journey   by   picturing  the   reception 

5SL 


60  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

which  would  be  accorded  to  him  by  the  authorities  at  Da- 
mascus, on  his  arrival  at  their  city  as  the  Commissioner  of 
the  High  Priest,  charged  with  the  extirpation  of  the  Naza- 
rene  heresy.  But  instead  of  honor,  there  was  consternation 
and  surprise.  No  one  could  quite  explain  or  understand 
what  had  taken  place.  Dismounted  from  his  horse,  he  went 
afoot;  instead  of  the  haughty  bearing  of  the  Inquisitor,  the 
helplessness  of  a  sightless  man  appealed  for  hands  to  lead 
him ;  shrinking  from  notice  and  welcome,  he  was  only  too 
eager  to  reach  a  lonely  chamber,  where  he  might  recover 
from  the  awful  effects  of  that  collision  between  his  mortal 
and  sinful  nature  and  the  holy,  glorious  Son  of  God,  whom 
he  had  so  ruthlessly  persecuted. 

*' Trembling  and  astonished,"  he  seemed  a  stricken,  de- 
jected, broken  man — but  his  soul  was  radiant  with  the  light 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus.  The  fire  that 
shone  in  the  burning  bush  had  suddenly  kindled  upon  him. 
As  a  lightning  flash  illumines  the  ink-black  night,  revealing 
the  precipice  towards  which  the  traveller  was  stumbling, 
and  unveiling  for  one  brief  instant  the  city  with  its  glisten- 
ing buildings,  or  the  country  with  its  expanse  of  forest, 
river,  and  pastureland,  so  in  a  moment  he  had  seen  God, 
Christ,  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and  the  mistaken 
purpose  of  his  life. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  much  of  the  teaching, 
which  the  Apostle  gave  out  in  after  days,  may  be  discov- 
ered in  germ  in  the  records  of  his  conversion. 

*'I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou  persecutest"  :  there  is  the  be- 
liever's identification  with  the  Lord,  involving  all  that  won- 
derful teaching  of  the  oneness  of  the  Head  and  members. 

**  To  appoint  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness  "  :  there  is  the 
origin  of  his  constant  reference  to  witness  and  testimony 
bearing. 

**  The  Gentiles,  unto  whom  now  I  send  thee  *' :  on  this  he 


THE  INNER  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST  61 

rested  his  claim  to  be  considered  specially  the  Apostle  of 
the  Gentiles,  and  perhaps  at  this  time  those  two  great  reve- 
lations may  have  passed  for  a  moment  before  the  eyes  of  his 
heart,  to  be  elaborated  in  after  years;  the  one  that  the 
Gentiles  should  be  fellow-members,  fellow-heirs,  and  fellow- 
partakers  with  the  chosen  nation  in  all  the  privileges  and 
rights  of  the  Gospel ;  the  other,  to  make  all  men  see  what 
is  the  fellowship  of  the  mystery  which  from  eternal  ages  hath 
been  hidden  in  the  heart  of  God — the  riches  of  the  glory 
of  this  mystery,  which  is  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory — 
that  even  the  hearts  of  Gentiles  may  become  the  dwelling 
place  and  temple  of  the  living  Saviour  (Eph.  iii. ;  Col.  i.). 

In  Acts  xxvi.  17,  18,  we  find  an  epitome  of  the  first  chap- 
ter of  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians.  It  is,  in  fact,  the 
seed  plot  of  the  Apostle's  thoughts  on  the  justification  and 
sanctification  of  the  soul.  The  whole  of  his  message  might 
be  focused  around  these  two  points — remission  of  sins,  and 
an  inheritance  among  the  sanctified,  through  faith  in  the 
living  Christ. 

At  this  formative  period  of  his  life  three  effective  agencies 
were  brought  to  bear  on  him :  the  work  of  God  on  his 
heart ;  contact  with  Ananias ;  and  the  education  of  the 
desert  solitudes. 

I.  The  Work  of  God  on  his  Heart. — ''  It  pleased  God 
to  reveal  his  Son  in  me."  The  Apostle  knew  too  much  of 
the  divine  life  to  admit  that  the  vast  change  in  him  could 
be  entirely  accounted  for  by  what  he  had  seen  with  his 
mortal,  and  now  blinded  eyes.  He  was  aware  that  a  true 
and  lasting  work  can  only  be  achieved  when  the  inner  eye 
has  perceived  things  that  are  hidden  from  mortal  sense.  In 
other  words,  God,  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out 
of  darkness,  must  shine  /;/  f/ie  heart  to  give  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  his  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus. 


62  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Imagine  the  abundance  of  revelations  made  to  the  blinded 
man  during  those  three  days  and  nights  of  silence  and  soli- 
tude in  the  house  of  Judas.  Is  it  wonderful  that  he  became 
oblivious  to  the  needs  of  the  body,  and  did  neither  eat  nor 
drink  ?  There  are  hours  when  we  lose  all  consciousness  of 
earth,  and  already  live  in  the  heavenlies;  when  the  soul 
loses  count  of  the  moments,  sets  sail  from  the  coast  line  of 
earth,  and  finds  itself  out  on  the  broad  bosom  of  the  ocean 
of  eternity.     Such  was  the  experience  of  this  soul. 

What  mysteries  began  to  pass  before  him,  like  the  pro- 
cession of  the  Divine  Nature  as  God  proclaimed  his  Name 
to  Moses  down  the  mountain  gorge  !  We  talk  about  dis- 
covery; we  should  rather  speak  of  disclosure.  Is  there 
such  a  thing  as  discovery?  Is  it  not  rather  true  of  all  in- 
vention, of  all  fresh  readings  of  nature,  that  God  is  taking 
man  up  into  the  mountain  of  vision  and  showing  him  the 
things  which  have  been,  and  are,  and  shall  be,  bidding 
him  write  them  in  a  book  for  the  generations  to  come? 
During  those  wondrous  hours  God  unveiled  secrets  which 
had  been  kept  in  silence  through  times  eternal,  but  were 
manifested  to  him  according  to  the  commandment  of  the 
eternal  God,  that  he  might  make  them  known  unto  all 
nations,  unto  obedience  of  faith. 

But  the  crowning  revelation  of  all  was  that  on  which  he 
lays  especial  stress.  It  was  much  to  learn  that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  was  in  very  deed  the  Son  of  the  Highest,  and  that 
the  Christ  must  surfer  and  be  the  first  by  his  resurrection 
from  the  dead  to  proclaim  light  unto  the  people  and  the 
Gentiles ;  much  to  be  taught  that  remission  of  sins  and  the 
heritage  of  a  holy  life  were  the  gift  of  God  to  the  open  hand 
of  faith  ;  much  to  discover  that  there  was  no  distinction  be- 
tween Jew  and  Greek,  but  that  the  same  God  was  Lord  of 
all,  and  rich  to  all ;  but  more  than  all  was  the  unveiling  of 
the  indwelling  Christ,  living  literally  within  him  by  his 


THE  INNER  RE^EL/iTION  OF  CHRIST  63 

Spirit,  so  that  whilst  he  was  in  Christ,  Christ  was  also  in 
him,  as  the  branch  has  its  place  in  the  vine,  and  the  vine 
lives  through  the. branch. 

O  soul  of  man,  has  this  revelation  ever  been  thy  experi- 
ence ?  Dost  thou  know  that  Christ  is  in  thee  ?  If  thou  truly 
believest  in  Him,  there  is  no  doubt  of  it.  **Know  ye  not 
as  to  your  own  selves  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you  ?  Unless, 
indeed,  ye  be  reprobate."  And  yet  thou  mayest  be  in 
ignorance  of  this  transcendent  possession.  Ask  God  to  re- 
veal his  Son  in  thee,  to  make  thee  know  experimentally  the 
riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery.  He  will  rend  the  vail 
of  the  inner  life  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  and 
in  the  most  holy  place  of  thy  spirit  disclose  the  Shekinah 
of  his  eternal  presence.  Two  conditions  only  must  be  ful- 
filled. Thou  must  be  prepared  to  yield  thine  own  will  to 
the  cross ;  and  to  wait  before  God  in  the  silence  and  soli- 
tude of  thy  spirit. 

God  was  pleased  to  make  this  known  to  Saul  of  Tarsus. 
He  will  be  equally  pleased  to  make  it  known  to  thee ;  be- 
cause He  lives  to  glorify  his  Son,  and  afford  the  full  meas- 
ure of  blessedness  to  his  children.  Ask  for  a  breath  of 
heavenly  grace  to  part  the  veiling  mist,  and  show  thee  the 
line  of  sun-lit  Alps,  irradiate  with  the  morning  glow  ! 

II.  Contact  with  Ananias. — It  is  permitted  to  holy  and 
humble  natures  greatly  to  help  the  spirit  which  is  on  the 
point  of  emerging  from  bondage.  The  little  maiden,  awak- 
ing from  her  death  swoon,  required  food ;  Lazarus,  whom 
Jesus  had  summoned  back  to  life,  needed  to  be  unswathed 
and  loosed.  The  offices  which  one  can  perform  for  another 
are  beautifully  illustrated  in  that  simple-hearted  saint,  Ana- 
nias, whom  the  Lord  at  this  moment  called  upon  the  scene, 
and  to  whom  He  entrusted  the  keys  of  the  kingdom,  that 
be  might  unlock  Saul's  way  into  perfect  peace. 


64  P^UL:  Ji  SERVAm  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

We  know  very  little  of  Ananias,  except  that  he  was  a 
devout  man  according  to  the  law  and  was  well  reported  of 
by  the  Jews,  but  evidently  he  was  on  intimate  terms  with 
his  Master ;  and  the  Lord  was  willing  to  enter  into  explana- 
tions and  reassurances  with  him,  before  sending  him  forth. 
A  very  slender  taper,  if  it  has  caught  the  fire,  may  com- 
municate its  glow  to  the  powerful  wicks  of  a  lighthouse 
tower. 

He  gave  htm  a  Brother's  Welcome.  Though  he  was 
fully  acquainted  with  the  object  of  Saul's  visit  to  the  city, 
he  accosted  him  with  the  sweet  and  generous  term,  Brother, 
Brother  Saul.  What  a  thrill  that  address  sent  through  the 
heart  of  the  new  convert !  Pharisaism  had  never  spoken 
thus ;  and  as  he  became  conscious  of  the  presence  of  this 
new  brother  standing  beside  him  and  laying  his  hand  on 
his  fevered  brow,  the  human  love  was  the  sign  and  symbol 
of  the  Divine.  Ah  !  Love  of  God,  what  must  not  thou  be, 
though  I  have  persecuted  thee  so  sorely,  if  the  love  of  man 
be  so  strong  and  tender  ! 

He  communicated  Priceless  Blessings  ;  for,  first,  beneath 
the  laying  on  of  his  hands,  sight  came  clear  to  eyes  which 
had  beheld  nothing  since  they  had  been  smitten  by  the 
glory  of  *'  that  light."  And  the  touch  of  this  devout  man, 
accompanied  as  it  must  have  been  with  the  upward  glance 
of  prayer  and  faith,  was  also  the  signal  for  the  reception  of 
the  anointing  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  filling,  anointing, 
and  equipping  for  blessed  service. 

He  baptized  him.  What  a  baptism  must  that  have  been  ! 
What  a  tidal  wave  of  emotion  must  have  swept  over  him, 
as  he  realized  that  he  was  being  united  with  Jesus  by  the 
likeness  of  his  death  !  In  years  long  after,  the  memory  of 
that  solemn  moment  was  fresh  to  him,  and  he  refers  to  it  in 
the  repeated  we  of  Rom.  vi.  **  We  who  were  baptized 
into  Christ  Jesus."     **  We  were  buried  with  him."     "  W( 


THE  INNER  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST  65 

have  become  united  with  him  by  the  likeness  of  his  death." 
That  baptism  was  his  final  and  irreversible  break  with  his 
past  life,  the  Pharisaic  party,  and  his  persecution  of  the 
adherents  of  **the  Way."  Henceforth  he  was  avowedly 
one  with  the  followers  of  the  Nazarene.  From  that  mo- 
ment he  took  up  his  cross,  and  began  to  follow  his  Master. 
The  cross  and  grave  of  Jesus  must  now  stand  between  him 
and  all  that  had  been — all  his  friends,  ambitions,  and  opin- 
ions— whilst  he  must  turn  his  face  towards  labor  and  travail, 
hunger  and  thirst,  perils  and  persecutions,  together  with  the 
daily  deliverance  unto  death  for  Jesus'  sake. 

There  was  an  even  deeper  thought.  He  knew  that  the 
root  of  sins  was  sin,  the  assertion  of  I,  the  body  of  the 
flesh.  Too  long  had  this  been  the  motive  force  of  his 
career.  His  efforts  after  righteousness,  as  well  as  his  zeal 
against  the  Church,  had  manifested  the  intensity  and  viru- 
lence of  this  strong,  selfish  principle.  Henceforth,  how- 
ever, he  desired  to  be  dead  to  it,  and  to  accept  the  position 
offered  to  him  in  the  risen  Lord,  wherein  the  body  of  sin 
should  be  done  away  as  the  centre  and  impulse  of  his  being, 
because  replaced  by  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  Life,  which  is 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

«« Yea,  thro*  life,  death,  thro'  sorrow  and  thro*  sinning. 
He  shall  suffice  me,  for  He  hath  sufficed ; 
Christ  is  the  end,  for  Christ  is  the  beginning, 
Christ  the  beginning,  for  the  end  is  Christ." 

It  does  not  appear  that  Ananias  was  cognizant  of  all  that 
baptism  meant  to  his  new  brother  Saul.  To  him  it  was  an 
act  of  obedience,  a  symbol  of  the  washing  away  of  sins. 
This  simple  soul  had  never  trodden  the  difficult  way  of  the 
cross.  How  little  do  we  know  what  is  passing  in  the 
thoughts  of  those  next  to  us  in  life's  strange  school !  But 
his  honest  help  must  have  been  very  comforting  to  the  new 


66  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

disciple  as  he  united  himself  with  the  cross  of  Jesus,  and 
henceforth  began  to  fill  up  that  which  was  behind  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  for  his  Body's  sake.  All  Ananias  knew 
was  that  the  Lord  had  said,  "  I  will  show  him  how  great 
things  he  must  suffer  for  my  Name's  sake." 

III.  The  Education  of  the  Desert  Solitudes. — 
*' Immediately  I  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood; 
neither  went  I  up  to  Jerusalem  to  them  which  were  apostles 
before  me;  but  I  went  away  into  Arabia."  It  is  not  quite 
clear  whether  he  began  to  preach  before  going ;  probably 
not.  He  wanted  to  be  alone,  to  reflect  on  all  that  he  had 
seen ;  to  coordinate,  if  possible,  the  new  with  the  old,  the 
present  with  the  past.  For  this  he  must  have  uninterrupted 
leisure,  and  he  hungered  for  the  isolation  and  solitude  of 
the  wilderness.  Men  like  Ananias  might  reassure  him; 
the  apostles  of  the  Lord  might  communicate  much  of  his 
teaching  and  wondrous  ministry ;  the  holy  beauty  of  the 
life  of  the  infant  Church  might  calm  and  elevate  his  spirit ; 
but,  above  all  things,  he  wanted  to  be  alone  with  Jesus,  to 
know  Him  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  the  anointing 
which  makes  human  teaching  needless,  because  it  teaches 
all  things.  Three  years  under  such  tuition  would  doubtless 
make  him  so  proficient  that  when  afterwards  he  met  those 
who  were  of  repute  among  the  apostles  they  would  be  able 
to  add  nothing  unto  him. 

Arabia  probably  stands  for  the  Sinaitic  peninsula,  with 
its  sparse  population,  its  marked  physical  features,  its  as- 
sociations with  Moses,  and  the  Exodus,  and  Elijah. 

How  much  it  must  have  all  meant  to  that  eager  spirit, 
who  was  to  interpret  to  all  time  the  inner  meaning  of  the 
momentous  events  of  which  those  gaunt  mountain  solitudes 
had  been  the  scene  !  Here  the  bush  had  burned  with  the 
fire  that  now  burned  within  his  heart.     Here  Moses  had 


THE  INNER  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST  67 

seen  God  face  to  face,  as  he  had  seen  Jesus.  Here  the 
plan  of  the  tabernacle  had  been  communicated,  as  to  him 
that  of  the  Church.  Here  the  water  flowed  from  the 
stricken  rock,  and  that  Rock  was  Christ.  Here  Elijah 
stood  in  the  entrance  to  the  cave,  and  the  still  small  voice 
stole  into  his  heart ;  and  had  he  not  heard  that  same  voice  ? 
Beneath  those  heavens  glowing  at  noon  with  sultry  heat, 
and  radiant  at  night  with  myriads  of  stars,  the  cloud  had 
moved,  directing  the  march  of  the  pilgrim  hosts — for  him, 
too,  it  shone.  Month  after  month  he  wandered  to  and  fro, 
now  sharing  the  rough  fare  of  some  Essene  community,  or 
the  lot  of  a  family  of  Bedouins;  now  swept  upwards  in 
heavenly  fellowship,  and  again  plunged  into  profound 
meditation.  The  chariots  of  God  are  twenty  thousand, 
even  thousands  upon  thousands ;  and  they  were  all  waiting 
at  his  beck  and  call  to  bear  him  aloft  into  the  heavenly 
places. 

Probably  the  most  important  work  of  those  years  was  to 
review  the  entire  course  of  Old  Testament  truth  from  the 
new  standpoint  of  vision  suggested  by  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  the  Messiah.  There  was  no  doubt  that  He  had 
been  crucified  in  weakness,  and  now  lived  in  the  power  of 
God.  But  how  was  this  consistent  with  the  anticipations 
of  the  prophets  and  seers  of  the  Old  Testament,  who  had 
been  understood  by  generations  of  rabbis  to  predict  an  all- 
victorious  Prince?  How  eagerly  he  turned  to  all  the  well- 
known  Messianic  passages !  What  ecstasy  must  have 
thrilled  him  as  he  discovered  that  they  were  all  consistent 
with  Christ's  suffering  unto  death  as  the  way  to  enter  His 
glory !  And  how  greatly  he  must  have  wondered  that  he 
and  all  his  people  had  been  so  blind  to  the  obvious  mean- 
ing of  the  inspired  Word  (2  Cor.  iii.). 

We  can  well  understand  how,  on  his  return  to  Damascus, 
he  should  straightway  proclaim  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of 


68  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

God ;  and  that  he  should  especially  confound  the  Jews  that 
dwelt  there,  proving  that  this  is  the  Messiah.  In  those 
silent  meditations  over  the  Word  he  stored  arguments  for 
use  in  many  a  synagogue  for  the  next  twenty  years,  where 
he  would  reason  from  the  Scriptures,  opening  and  alleging 
that  it  behoved  the  Messiah  to  suffer  and  to  rise  again  from 
the  dead,  and  **  that  this  Jesus  is  the  Messiah." 

It  is  almost  certain  also  that  he  was  led  at  this  time  to 
understand  the  relation  of  the  law  to  the  older  covenant 
into  which  God  had  entered  with  Abraham.  Up  to  this  mo- 
ment he  had  been  a  son  of  the  law,  laboriously  fulfilling  its 
demands,  but  groaning  beneath  a  perpetual  sense  of  failure 
and  condemnation.  Now  he  was  led  to  see  that  he  and  all 
his  people  had  made  too  little  of  the  promise  made  to 
Abraham,  which  was  conditioned,  not  on  works,  but  on 
faith.  To  employ  his  own  words,  he  realized  that  the  law, 
which  came  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  after  the  giving 
of  the  covenant,  could  not  disannul  it,  so  as  to  make  the 
promise  of  none  effect  (Gal.  iii.  17).  He  graduated  back- 
wards from  Moses  to  Abraham.  From  the  loftier  summits 
of  Mamre  he  beheld  the  temporary  and  limited  ministry  of 
the  Law,  which  was  added  because  of  transgressions,  till 
the  seed  should  come  to  whom  the  promise  had  been  made. 

In  the  light  of  this  revelation  he  could  better  understand 
his  own  call  to  minister  to  the  Gentiles,  for  this  was  one  of 
the  special  provisions  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant:  **In 
thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
blessed." 

But  deeper  than  all  was  God's  work  with  his  soul.  Grain 
by  grain  his  proud  self-reliance  and  impetuosity  were  worn 
away.  As  it  happened  to  Moses  during  the  forty  years  of 
shepherd  life,  so  it  befell  Saul  of  Tarsus.  No  longer  con- 
fident in  himself,  he  was  henceforth  more  than  content 
to  be  the  slave  of  Jesus  Christ,  going  where  he  was  sent, 


THE  INNER  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST  69 

doing  as  he  was  bidden,  and  serving  as  the  instrument  of 
his  will.  We  all  need  to  go  to  Arabia  to  learn  lessons  like 
these.  The  Lord  Hin:iself  was  led  up  into  the  wilderness. 
And,  in  one  form  or  another,  every  soul  which  has  done  a 
great  work  in  the  world  has  been  passed  through  similar 
periods  of  obscurity,  suffering,  disappointment,  or  solitude. 


VII 

5[l)e  (£mtx%t\m  of  tl)c  £i&  Ij^nxfost 

(Acts  xxii.  17-21.) 

**  Ah !     Fragments  of  a  whole,  ordained  to  be 
Points  in  the  life  I  waited.     What  are  ye 
But  roundels  of  a  ladder,  which  appeared 
Awhile  the  very  platform  it  was  reared 

To  lift  me  on  ?  "  Browning. 

IT  is  a  matter  of  absorbing  interest  to  a  mother  to 
watch  the  unfolding  character  of  her  child  from  the 
apparent  shapelessness  of  infancy  to  the  defined  outlines 
of  marked  individuality.  But  it  is  still  more  interesting 
to  trace  the  successive  stages  of  the  emergence  of  the  life 
purposes  of  a  new-born  soul.  At  the  moment  of  conversion 
there  are  two  questions  that  arise  naturally  upon  our  lips : 
First,  Who  art  Thou,  Lord  ?  and  next.  What  wilt  Thou  have 
me  to  do  ?  As  to  the  first ^  we  can  only  await  the  gradual 
revelation,  as  when  the  dawn  slowly  breaks  on  a  wide- 
spread landscape.  It  will  take  an  eternity  to  know  all  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  and  can  be  to  his  own.  As  to  the  second^ 
we  are  no  less  dependent  on  the  Divine  revealing  hand, 
indicating  the  path  we  are  to  tread,  showing  the  scheme 
which  the  Divine  mind  has  conceived. 

Often  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  life  we  attempt  to 
forecast  the  work  which  we  hope  to  accomplish.  We  take 
into  account  our  tastes  and  aptitudes,  our  faculties  and 
talents,  our  birth  and  circumstances.  From  these  we  infer 
that  we  shall  probably  succeed  best  along  a  certain  line  of 

70 


THE  EMERGENCE  OF  THE  LIFE  PURPOSE  71 

useful  activity.  But  as  the  moments  lengthen  into  years, 
it  becomes  apparent  that  the  door  of  opportunity  is  closing 
in  that  direction.  It  is  a  bitter  disappointment.  We  refuse 
to  believe  that  the  hindrances  to  the  fulfilment  of  our 
cherished  hopes  can  be  permanent.  Patience,  we  cry,  will 
conquer  every  difficulty.  The  entrance  may  be  strait,  but 
surely  it  is  passable.  At  last  we  shall  reach  the  wide  and 
large  place  of  successful  achievement.  We  cast  ourselves 
against  the  closing  door,  as  sea  birds  on  the  illuminated 
glass  of  the  lighthouse  tower,  to  fall  dazed  and  bewildered 
to  the  ground.  And  it  is  only  after  such  a  period  of  dis- 
appointment that  we  come  to  perceive  that  God's  ways  are 
not  as  our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts  as  our  thoughts;  and 
that  He  has  other  work  for  us  to  do,  for  which  He  has  been 
preparing  us,  though  we  knew  it  not.  When  we  are  young 
we  gird  ourselves,  and  attempt  to  walk  whither  we  will ;  but 
in  after  years  we  are  guided  by  Another,  and  taken  whither 
we  would  not. 

There  is  a  marvellously  apposite  illustration  of  these 
facts  of  common  experience  in  the  life  story  which  we  are 
considering.  Without  doubt,  at  the  beginning  of  his 
Christian  career,  the  Apostle  felt  strongly  drawn  to  minister 
to  his  own  people.  He  was  a  Hebrew,  and  the  son  of 
Hebrews.  The  pure  blood  of  the  chosen  race  flowed 
through  his  heart,  nourishing  it  with  the  great  memories  of 
the  past.  What  was  the  meaning  of  his  having  been  cra- 
dled and  nourished  in  the  heart  of  Judaism,  except  that  he 
might  better  understand  and  win  Jews  ?  Did  not  his  train- 
ing in  the  strictest  sect  of  their  religion,  and  at  the  feet  of 
Gamaliel,  give  him  a  special  claim  on  those  who  held  **  that 
jewel  of  the  law  "  in  special  reverence  and  honor  ? 

But  he  was  destined  to  discover  that  his  new-found 
Master  had  other  purposes  for  his  life,  and  that  he  had 
been   specially  prepared  and  called  to  preach  among  the 


72  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  and  make  all 
men  see  the  fellowship  of  the  mystery  which  from  all 
generations  had  been  hid  in  God.  How  this  discovery  was 
made  to  him  is  an  interesting  study,  because,  though  at  the 
moment  of  his  arrest  it  was  clearly  announced  by  the  Lord 
Himself  that  he  was  to  be  sent  to  the  Gentiles;  yet, 
apparently,  it  did  not  dawn  on  his  mind  then  to  how  large 
an  extent  his  energies  and  time  would  be  monopolized 
by  ministering  to  those  who  were,  at  that  time,  alienated 
from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  strangers  from  the 
covenant  of  promise,  having  no  hope  and  without  God  in 
the  world. 

I.  Paul's  Cherished  Hope. — During  his  sojourn  in 
the  Sinaitic  penifisula  we  may  well  believe  that  his  soul 
turned  towards  his  people  with  ardent  desire.  Was  he  not 
an  Israelite,  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  of  the  tribe  of  Benja- 
min ;  and  could  he  be  indifferent  to  the  needs  of  his  breth- 
ren according  to  the  flesh  ?  Surely  it  would  not  be  difficult 
to  unfold  the  meaning  of  the  sacred  symbolism  through 
which  their  forefathers  had  been  disciplined  in  those  very 
wastes.  That  the  rock  was  Christ ;  that  the  water  which 
flowed  over  the  sands  foreshadowed  his  mission  to  the 
world ;  that  the  law  given  from  Sinai  had  been  fulfilled  and 
re-edited  in  the  holy  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth;  that  the 
sacrifices,  offered  on  those  sands,  had  pointed  to  the  death 
of  the  cross ;  and  that  the  fire  which  burned  in  the  bush  had 
also  shone  on  his  face — to  teach  all  this,  and  much  more,  and 
to  lead  his  people  from  the  desert  wastes  of  Pharisaism  to 
the  heavenly  places  of  which  Canaan  was  the  type,  was  the 
hope  and  longing  of  his  heart.  What  work  could  be  more 
congenial  to  his  tastes  and  attitudes  than  this? 

On  his  return  to  Damascus  he  at  once  commenced  his 
crusade  in  the  synagogues.     **  Straightway,"  we  are  told, 


THE  EMERGENCE  OF  THE  LIFE  PURPOSE  73 

"  he  preached  Christ  m  the  synagogues,  that  He  is  the  Son 
of  God.  And  all  that  heard  him  were  amazed.  But  Saul 
increased  the  more  in  strength,  and  confounded  the  Jews 
which  dwelt  at  Damascus,  proving  that  this  is  the  very 
Christ."  How  encouraged  he  was  by  these  early  successes  ! 
How  evidently  God  seemed  to  be  setting  his  seal  and 
imprimatur  on  his  decisions  !  Visions  of  national  repent- 
ance and  conversion  passed  across  his  eager  soul,  and  he 
dared  to  hope  that  he  should  live  to  see  the  dry  bones 
become  a  great  army  for  God. 

But  the  vision  was  soon  overcast.  So  violent  was  the 
hatred  with  which  he  was  regarded  by  his  fellow-country- 
men, that  he  was  in  imminent  danger  of  his  life.  They 
seem  to  have  instigated  the  governor,  who  held  the  city  of 
the  Damascenes  with  a  garrison,  to  assist  them  with  patrols. 
The  gates  were  watched  day  and  night,  that  he  might  be 
killed  if  he  endeavored  to  escape.  And  finally  he  was 
lowered  under  cover  of  the  night  by  a  basket  over  the 
city  wall. 

Sfi//,  however t  his  purpose  was  unchanged.  He  went  up 
to  Jerusalem  with  the  intention  of  seeing  Peter.  But  in 
this  he  would  probably  have  failed  had  it  not  been  for  the 
intervention  of  Barnabas,  who,  according  to  an  old  tradition, 
had  been  his  fellow-student,  educated  with  himself  at  the 
feet  of  Gamaliel.  Through  his  good  offices  he  was  brought 
into  contact  with  Peter  and  James,  and  was,  not  improb- 
ably, received  into  the  house  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Mark, 
and  sister  to  the  good  Cypriot  (Col.  iv.  lo).  A  blessed 
fortnight  followed.  He  was  with  them,  coming  in  and 
going  out  at  Jerusalem,  and  especially  engaged  in  holy  and 
loving  fellowship  with  Peter,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the 
Church. 

It  is  surely  an  innocent  use  of  the  imagination  to  think 
of  these  two  sitting  or  walking  together  on  the  housetop, 


74  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

when  the  sun  was  westering,  conversing  of  the  great  past. 
On  one  occasion  their  theme  would  be  the  Lord's  early 
ministry  in  Galilee,  so  closely  associated  with  Peter's 
opening  manhood ;  on  another,  the  discourses  and  scenes 
of  the  last  hours  before  his  crucifixion;  on  another,  the 
precious  death  and  burial,  the  glorious  resurrection  and 
ascension,  and  the  appearances  of  the  forty  days.  *'Tell 
me  all  you  can  remember  of  the  Master,"  would  be  the 
frequent  inquiry  of  the  new  disciple  of  him  who  had  been 
so  specially  privileged  as  a  witness  of  that  mystery  of  love. 
And  it  must  often  have  come  to  pass  that  as  they  com- 
muned together  of  all  those  things  that  had  happened, 
Jesus  Himself  drew  near,  and  their  hearts  burned  within 
them. 

What  Peter  could  not  tell  him,  James  could.  For  he 
had  shared  the  home  of  Nazareth,  but  had  remained 
unbelieving  till  the  Resurrection  convinced  him.  He 
would  recount  the  story  of  the  early  years,  and  corroborate 
Peter's  narrative  of  events  from  the  Easter  dawn  to  the 
Day  of  Pentecost. 

But  Saul  had  other  business  in  those  happy  days.  He 
seems  to  have  avoided  the  churches  of  Judaea  which  were 
in  Christ,  and  to  have  again  sought  the  synagogues.  '*  He 
spake  and  disputed  against  the  Grecian  Jews."  On  many 
a  spot  where  he  had  contended  against  Stephen  he  stood 
now  to  contend  for  the  truths  which  he  had  first  heard 
from  the  martyr's  life.  How  well  he  could  understand  the 
passion  with  which  his  statements  were  received ;  but  how 
skilfully  would  he  drive  home  the  goad,  which  had  at  last 
compelled  his  own  surrender  !  But  here  also  his  efforts 
were  met  by  rebuffs:   *'  They  went  about  to  slay  him." 

Yet  in  spite  of  coldness  and  antipathy,  he  clung 
tenaciously  to  his  cherished  purpose.  He  had  great  sor- 
row and  unceasing  pain  in  his  heart ;  he  could  have  wished 


THE  EMERGENCE  OF  THE  LIFE  PURPOSE  76 

himself  anathema  from  Christ  for  his  brethren's  sake,  his 
kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh.  And  when  he  knelt 
quietly  in  the  Temple  and  heard  authoritatively  from  the 
Master's  lips  that  Jerusalem  would  not  receive  his  testimony, 
he  could  hardly  believe  it,  and  clung  still  to  his  hope,  and 
pleaded  against  the  idea  that  the  door  was  closing  in 
his  face.  *' Surely,"  he  cried,  *'it  cannot  be  that  Jeru- 
salem will  refuse  my  words  !  She  has  such  ample  proof  of 
my  sincerity,  she  must  be  willing  at  least  to  listen  to  the 
arguments  which  I  have  found  so  imperative;  surely  my 
marvellous  change  must  arrest  and  impress  her.  Let  me 
stay.  To  transfer  me  elsewhere  would  be  a  serious  waste 
of  power.  I  shall  do  better  work  here  among  people  who 
know  me  so  well,  and  conditions  I  can  understand,  than 
would  be  possible  anywhere  else  in  the  world." 

In  a  similar  manner  we  have  all  cherished  our  life  pur- 
poses. We  have  forecasted  our  future,  as  liable  to  lie  in  a 
certain  direction,  and  have  dearly  desired  that  it  should  do 
so.  When  hindrances  have  been  put  in  our  way,  and  when 
we  have  met  with  strong  opposition  and  rebuff,  we  have 
still  clung  to  our  hope.  Only  very  slowly  have  we  yielded 
and  accepted  the  inevitable.  To  renounce  it  has  been  like 
tearing  out  our  heart.  Not  till  long  years  have  passed  have 
we  realized  that  the  Lord's  plan  was  so  much  wiser  and 
grander  than  our  own.  Then  suddenly  we  have  awoke  to 
discover  that  whilst  we  were  desiring  to  do  one  thing,  God 
was  leading  us  to  do  another,  and  that  what  we  have 
counted  secondary  was  primary,  for  his  glory,  and  the 
lasting  satisfaction  of  our  own  heart. 

II.  The  Closing  Door. — It  began  to  close  at 
Damascus ;  it  closed  still  further  when  persecution  arose  at 
Jerusalem  :  but  the  final  act  was  as  Saul  was  praying  in  the 
Temple. 


76  PAUL:  Ji  SERyANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

It  would  appear  that  he  had  gone  there  to  be  alone, 
away  from  the  many  voices  that  were  endeavoring  to 
counsel  him.  For  though  he  had  been  but  a  few  days 
in  the  city,  antipathy  against  him  had  already  risen  to  such 
a  height  that  his  life  was  in  danger ;  and  it  was  necessary 
to  consider  seriously  what  to  do — should  he  stay,  or  go  ? 
should  he  brave  the  storm,  or  flee  before  it?  Some 
advised  one  course,  and  some  another.  The  babble  of 
voices  confused  him,  deafening  the  whisper  of  the  still, 
small  voice;  his  attention  was  too  distracted  by  human 
suggestions  to  be  perfectly  open  to  the  directing  finger 
of  God.  So  he  betook  himself  to  the  Temple,  where  his 
Master  had  so  often  been ;  where  so  many  symbols  spoke 
of  Him ;  where  holy  associations  gathered  like  troops  of 
white-robed  angels.  And,  as  he  knelt  in  prayer  in  some 
quiet  spot,  he  saw  Him,  whom  his  soul  loved  and  sought. 
How  many  visit  the  Temple  without  seeing  Him  !  but  if  we 
see  Him,  we  are  oblivious  to  all  beside.  There  is  One  who 
is  greater  than  the  Temple.  And  the  risen  Lord  gave  clear 
and  unmistakable  directions,  as  He  always  will  to  those 
who  can  say  with  the  Psalmist:  **  My  soul  is  silent  to 
the  Lord,  for  my  expectation  is  from  Him."  **  I  saw  Him 
saying  unto  me.  Make  haste,  and  get  thee  quickly  out  of 
Jerusalem ;  because  they  will  not  receive  of  thee  testimony 
concerning  Me." 

It  is  easy  to  explain  why  they  would  not  accept  his  testi- 
mony. There  was  too  much  of  the  Cross  in  it.  He  had 
discovered  aspects  of  the  death  of  Jesus,  which  were  in 
keen  antagonism  to  all  that  savored  of  Pharisaism.  It  was 
sufficiently  mortifying  to  their  pride  to  learn  that  the  son  of 
the  carpenter  was  the  long-anticipated  Messiah;  but  to  be 
told  further  that  the  true  life  could  only  be  entered  by  union 
with  that  supreme  act  of  self-renunciation  was  intolerable. 
This  side  of  Christianity  is  now  too  little  appreciated,  and 


THE  EMERGENCE  OF  THE  LIFE  PURPOSE  77 

so  the  offence  of  the  Cross  has  largely  ceased.  But 
wherever  it  is  consistently  advocated  and  practised,  it  is 
certain  to  arouse  the  sharpest  controversy. 

Saul,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  willingly  accept  this  as  the 
ultimatum,  and  still  argued  that  Jerusalem  would  afford  the 
most  suitable  sphere  for  his  ministry.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
argue  with  God,  as  though  to  bend  Him  to  our  will. 
**  Woe  unto  him  that  striveth  with  his  Maker  ;  let  the  pot- 
sherd strive  with  the  potsherds  of  the  earth."  But  all  de- 
bate was  at  last  summarily  closed  by  the  words,  "  Depart, 
for  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  to  the  Gentiles." 

Ah,  Saul !  thou  hast  argued,  and  striven,  and  tried  to 
carry  thy  way ;  thou  hast  almost  demanded  that  the  Lord 
should  adopt  thy  views,  and  been  very  loth  to  believe  that 
they  may  not  hold.  Thou  has  knocked  vehemently  against 
the  closed  doors ;  but  it  is  of  no  avail.  The  Lord  loves 
thee  too  well  to  yield  to  thee.  Some  day  thou  wilt  come  to 
see  that  He  was  doing  better  for  thee  than  thou  knewest, 
and  was  sending  thee  into  a  yet  wider  and  more  productive 
sphere  of  service. 

in.  The  Opened  Door. — So  the  disciples  brought  the 
hunted  preacher  down  to  Caesarea,  and  sent  him  forth  to 
Tarsus ;  and  not  improbably  he  resumed  his  tent  making 
there,  content  to  await  the  Lord's  will  and  bidding.  But 
the  years  passed  slowly.  Possibly  four  or  five  were  spent 
in  comparative  obscurity  and  neglect.  That  he  wrought  for 
Christ  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  his  home  is  almost  cer- 
tain, as  we  shall  see ;  but  the  word  of  the  Lord  awaited 
fulfilment. 

At  last  one  day,  as  he  waited,  he  heard  a  voice  saying  in 
the  doorway,  *'Does  Saul  live  here?"  And  in  another 
moment  the  familiar  face  of  his  old  college  friend  was  peer- 
ing in  on  him,  with  a  glad  smile  of  recognition.     Then  the 


78  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

story  was  told  of  the  marvellous  outbreak  of  God's  work  in 
Antioch,  of  the  overflowing  blessing  and  the  breaking  nets, 
and  Barnabas  pleaded  with  him  to  return  to  help  him  gather 
in  the  whitening  harvest  of  the  first  great  Gentile  city  which 
the  Gospel  had  moved.  '*And  he  brought  him  to  Antioch ; 
and  it  came  to  pass  that  a  whole  year  they  assembled  them- 
selves with  the  church  and  taught  much  people." 

Be  not  afraid  to  trust  God  utterly.  As  you  go  down  the 
long  corridor  you  may  find  that  He  has  preceded  you,  and 
locked  many  doors  which  you  would  fain  have  entered  ;  but 
be  sure  that  beyond  these  there  is  one  which  He  has  left 
unlocked.  Open  it  and  enter,  and  you  will  find  yourself 
face  to  face  with  a  bend  of  the  river  of  opportunity,  broader 
and  deeper  than  anything  you  had  dared  to  imagine  in  your 
sunniest  dreams.  Launch  forth  on  it ;  it  conducts  to  the 
open  sea. 


vni 
"3lItDa20  £tb  In  ariumpl)" 

(2  Corinthians  ii.  14-16.) 

•*  Christ !  I  am  Christ's !  and  let  that  name  suffice  you ; 
Ay,  and  for  me  He  greatly  hath  sufficed ; 
So,  with  no  winning  words  I  would  entice  you ; 
Paul  has  no  honor  and  no  friend  but  Christ." 

Myers. 

WHILST  Saul  was  tarrying  in  Tarsus,  where  he  re- 
mained sonae  four  or  five  years,  he  appears  to  have 
concentrated  his  energies  in  the  direction  suggested  by  two 
references  in  Acts  xv.  In  the  23d  verse,  the  Apostles  and 
elder  brethren  address  their  circular  letter  expressly  to  the 
brethren  which  are  of  the  Gentiles  in  Antioch,  Syria,  and 
Cilicia.  And  in  the  41st  verse  we  learn  that  Paul,  with 
Silas  as  his  fellow-traveller,  went  through  Syria  and  Cili- 
cia, confirming  the  churches.  Evidently  there  were  infant 
churches  scattered  throughout  Saul's  native  province ;  and 
the  conclusion  is  almost  irresistible  that  they  were  born  into 
existence  beneath  the  fervid  appeals  and  devoted  labors  of 
the  new  disciple. 

Perhaps  at  this  time  Saul's  kinsmen,  Andronicus  and 
Junia,  Jason,  Sosipater,  and  others,  were  brought  to  Christ ; 
but  his  father,  deeply  mortified  at  the  blasting  of  his  hopes 
by  the  conversion  of  his  son  from  the  old  faith,  cast  him 
off  (Romans  xvi.  7;  Phil.  iii.  8). 

His  work,  however,  was  chiefly  concerned  with  the  syna- 

79 


80  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

gogues,  which,  since  the  Dispersion,  had  been  established  in 
most  of  the  large  cities  of  the  empire.  As  with  the  earliest 
churches  in  Judaea,  the  main  constituents  of  these  would  be 
converted  Jews  and  proselytes.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  Apostle 
would  have  felt  himself  justified  in  receiving  the  Gentiles, 
as  such,  into  the  Church.  He  was  feeling  his  way  in  that 
direction,  and  was  being  prepared  for  the  full  acceptance 
of  the  commission  with  which  he  had  been  entrusted  on  the 
way  to  Damascus,  and  when  worshipping  in  the  Temple. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  some  of  his  deep  experiences 
of  privation  and  peril  must  have  taken  place  in  the  course 
of  his  efforts  to  spread  the  Gospel  during  these  years.  We 
all  remember  that  marvellous  enumeration — labors  more 
abundant,  stripes  above  measure,  deaths  oft,  five  times  the 
forty  stripes  save  one ;  thrice  beaten  with  rods,  thrice  ship- 
wrecked, a  night  and  day  in  the  deep ;  in  perils,  labor, 
travail,  watchings,  hunger  and  thirst,  cold  and  nakedness 
(2  Cor.  xi.).  There  is  positively  no  room  in  his  life,  as 
narrated  by  the  chronicler  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  for 
many  of  these,  especially  when  we  call  to  mind  that  the 
Second  Epistle  to  Corinth  was  written  before  his  expulsion 
from  Ephesus,  and  therefore  before  the  long  series  of  trials 
with  which  the  Book  of  the  Acts  closes. 

It  is,  therefore,  more  than  probable  that  we  are  to  con- 
clude that  from  the  very  hour  that  he  began  to  follow  the 
Saviour  he  became  identified  with  His  sorrowful  progress 
through  the  world.  Hated,  resisted,  despised,  and  cruci- 
fied, but  pursuing  his  triumphant  progress  to  his  throne. 

This  conception  was  closely  associated  in  the  Apostle's 
mind  with  his  unprecedented  experiences,  as  will  appear  to 
any  thoughtful  student  of  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians. Mark  especially  the  second  chapter  and  fourteenth 
verse:  **  Thanks  be  unto  God,  which  always  leadeth  us  in 
triumph  in  Christ,  and  maketh  manifest  through  us  the 


^'^LJVAYS  LED  IN  TRIUMPH''  81 

savor  of  his  knowledge  in  every  place.  For  we  are  a 
sweet  savor  of  Christ  unto  God,  in  them  that  are  being 
saved,  and  in  them  that  are  perishing." 

The  Metaphor  was  gathered  from  the  scene  of  a  Roman 
Triumph,  one  of  the  most  notable  events  in  the  old  world, 
when  some  great  general,  a  Caesar  or  Marius,  returning  from 
distant  scenes  of  triumph,  ascended  the  Capitoline  Hill, 
amid  the  plaudits  of  the  assembled  citizens  and  the  fra- 
grance of  sweet  odors.  Before  his  chariot  were  paraded 
captive  kings  and  princes ;  after  it  came  long  lines  of  pris- 
oners laden  with  the  spoils  of  war.  About  this  time  Claudius 
was  celebrating  his  victories  in  Britain,  and  among  his  cap- 
tive princes  marched  the  brave  Caractacus. 

To  the  vivid  imagination  of  the  Apostle — always  more 
prone  to  use  metaphors  borrowed  from  the  life  of  men  in 
camps  and  cities,  than  from  scenes  of  natural  beauty — it 
seemed  as  though  the  pageantry  of  the  scene,  which  so 
often  stirred  Rome  to  its  heart,  was  a  meet  emblem  of  the 
progress  of  Christ  through  the  world :  Hades  and  death 
bound  to  his  chariot  wheels,  his  arms  filled  with  spoils,  his 
trains  composed  of  the  thousands  whom  He  had  conquered, 
and  amongst  whom  Paul  was  proud  to  count  himself. 

Is  not  this  an  apt  picture  of  every  age  ?  Each  great  crisis 
in  the  past  has  helped  to  advance  the  glorious  reign  of 
Christ.  Was  the  fall  of  Babylon  a  crisis  ?  It  gave  man- 
kind a  universal  speech — the  language  spoken  by  Alexander 
and  his  soldiers — the  delicate,  subtle  Greek  in  which  the 
New  Testament  was  written.  Was  the  fall  of  Rome  a 
crisis  ?  It  opened  the  way  to  the  rise  of  the  northern  na- 
tions, which  have  ever  been  the  home  of  Liberty  and  the 
Gospel.  Was  the  fall  of  Feudalism,  in  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, a  crisis?  It  made  the  splendid  achievements  of  the 
nineteenth  century  possible.     And  we  may  look  without 


82  PAUL:  J!  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIS! 

dismay  on  events  that  cast  a  shadow  on  our  hearts.  They 
also  shall  serve  the  cause  of  the  Gospel.  In  ways  we  can- 
not tell,  they  shall  prepare  for  the  triumph  of  our  King. 
Through  the  throes  of  the  present  travail  the  new  heavens 
and  earth  shall  be  born.  The  agony  is  not  as  the  expiring 
groan  of  the  dying  gladiator,  but  as  the  sigh  of  the  mother 
bringing  forth  her  firstborn.  These  things,  said  our  Lord, 
must  needs  be ;  and  they  are  the  beginning  of  travail 
(Matt.  xxiv.  8,  r.v.).  And  amid  all  Jesus  rides  in  triumph 
to  his  destined  glory  and  the  crown  of  all  the  earth. 

The  Apostle's  Personal  Position  in  his  Master's  pro- 
cession was  clearly  apprehended  and  perpetually  accentu- 
ated. He  never  wearied  of  describing  himself  as  the  slave 
of  Jesus  Christ.  * '  Paul,  a  slave  of  Jesus  Christ,  called  to 
be  an  Apostle,  separated  unto  the  Gospel  of  God."  He 
had  been  a  rebel  chieftain.  With  fire  and  sword  he  had 
ravaged  the  flock  of  God.  He  had  measured  his  strength 
with  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  had  met  more  than  his  match. 
The  Stronger  One  had  come  upon  him,  taken  away  his 
armor,  and  bound  him  with  fetters  from  which  he  could 
not  get  free.  He  would  not,  if  he  could ;  nor  could  he,  if 
he  would.  From  that  hour  in  which  he  had  been  smitten 
to  the  ground  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  he  had  been  con- 
tent to  be  led  from  city  to  city,  from  continent  to  continent, 
in  the  triumphal  progress  of  his  Lord,  a  trophy  of  his 
mighty  power  to  bring  the  most  stubborn  under  his  yoke. 
*'  Thanks  be  unto  God,"  he  cries,  '*  who  always  leadeth  us 
in  triumph." 

Is  this  your  conception  of  your  life  ?  Captured  !  Ap- 
prehended by  Jesus  Christ !  Set  apart  for  Himself !  Do 
you  realize  that  you  are  bound  by  the  most  sacred  fetters  to 
your  Conqueror,  and  are  following  his  chariot  through  the 
earth?    Life  would  assume  a  new  aspect  if  you  realized 


**o^LlVAYS  LED  IN  TRIUMPH''  83 

this,  and  that  all  you  are  in  your  person,  and  own  in  your 
property,  has  become  Emmanuel's. 

Those  whom  Jesus  leads  in  triumph  share  his  triumph. 
They  may  be  a  spectacle  to  angels  or  to  men.  Sometimes 
in  the  stocks;  often  accounted  the  offscouring  of  all 
things ;  yet,  in  the  spiritual  realm,  they  are  made  to  tri- 
umph always.  Conquered,  they  conquer;  enslaved,  they 
are  free  ;  last  in  this  world,  but  in  the  front  rank  of  heav- 
enly society.  Poor,  beaten,  vanquished  soul,  lift  up  thy 
head  and  rejoice ;  for  if  thou  art  conquered  by  Jesus,  thou 
shalt  be  always  made  to  triumph  ! 

The  Influence  of  Christ  on  the  Character  of  those 
WHO  follow  Him  is  also  clearly  delineated.  The  metaphor 
is  changed,  and  the  Apostle  deems  himself  no  longer  a 
slave,  but  a  freed  servant,  a  citizen,  a  friend  bearing  a  bowl 
of  incense  from  which  redolent  vapors  steal  into  the  air. 
God  makes  manifest  through  him  in  every  place  the  sweet 
savor  of  the  knowledge  of  Jesus.  Wherever  he  went,  men 
knew  Jesus  better ;  the  loveliness  of  the  Master's  character 
became  more  apparent.  Men  became  aware  of  a  subtle 
fragrance,  poured  upon  the  air,  which  attracted  them  to  the 
Man  of  Nazareth.  The  world  became  purer,  the  tone  of 
society  healthier,  the  morals  and  manners  of  men  more  re- 
fined. 

What  an  ideal  this  is  for  us  all,  so  to  live  that  though  we 
are  unable  to  speak  much  or  occupy  a  commanding  posi- 
tion, yet  from  our  lives  a  holy  savor  may  be  spread  abroad, 
which  will  not  be  ours,  but  Christ's  !  Let  us  live  so  near 
Him,  that  we  may  absorb  his  fragrance ;  and  then  go  forth 
to  exhale  it  again  in  pureness,  in  knowledge,  in  long-suffer- 
ing, in  kindness,  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  love  unfeigned,  in 
the  word  of  truth,  and  in  the  power  of  God.  Just  as  a 
piece  of  clay  or  sponge  may  become  so  impregnated  with 


84  PAUL:  JI  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

some  aromatic  spice,  that  it  will  scent  the  drawer,  cupboard, 
or  box  in  which  it  lies,  so  we  may  become  impregnated 
with  the  sweetness  of  Jesus,  and  spread  it  by  an  irresistible 
influence  in  every  place  where  we  are  called  to  live  or  work. 

Yet  once  again  the  thought  changes. — The  Apostle 
imagines  himself  to  be  no  longer  the  hand  that  swings  the 
incense-bowl,  but  the  incense  itself.  He  says,  '*  We  are 
unto  God  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ."  How  marvellously 
scent  awakens  memory  !  In  a  moment  it  will  waft  us  back 
through  long  years  to  some  old  country  lane,  garden,  or 
orange  grove,  summoning  to  mind  people  and  events  associ- 
ated with  it  in  the  happy  past. 

When,  therefore,  we  are  told  that  we  may  be  to  God  a 
sweet  savor  of  Christ,  it  must  be  meant  that  we  may  so  live 
as  to  recall  to  the  mind  of  God  what  Jesus  was  in  his  mortal 
career.  It  is  as  though,  as  God  watches  us  from  day  to  day, 
He  should  see  Jesus  in  us,  and  be  reminded  (speaking  after 
the  manner  of  men)  of  that  blessed  life  which  was  offered 
as  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God  for  a  sweet- smelling 
savor. 

What  a  test  for  daily  living !  Is  my  life  fragrant  of 
Jesus  ?  Do  I  remind  the  Father  of  the  blessed  Lord  ?  Does 
He  detect  Jesus  in  my  walk  and  speech  ?  and  that  there  are 
in  me  the  sweet  savor  of  that  daily  burnt  offering,  that  de- 
light in  God's  will,  that  holy  joy  in  suffering  for  his  glory, 
that  absorption  in  his  purposes  which  made  the  life  of  the 
Son  of  Man  so  well-pleasing  to  God  ? 

At  the  foot  of  the  Capitoline  Hill  the  ancient  triumph 
divided.  Some  of  the  captives  were  led  off  to  the  dark 
precincts  of  the  TuUianum,  where  they  were  put  to  death. 
Others  were  reserved  to  live.  The  same  fragrance  was 
associated  with  the  perishing  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
saved  on  the  other.     Thus  it  is  in  all  Gospel  preaching  and 


**JILIVAYS  LED  IN  TRIUMPH'*  85 

holy  living.  The  sun  that  melts  wax  hardens  clay;  the 
light  that  bleaches  linen  tans  the  hands  which  expose  it ; 
the  cloud  is  light  to  Israel,  and  darkness  to  Egypt.  Those 
who  have  life  are  helped  to  intenser  life,  and  those  who  lack 
it  are  only  driven  to  further  excesses  of  sin.  To  one  we 
are  the  savor  of  life  unto  life,  to  the  other  of  death  unto 
death. 

It  was  in  such  a  mood  that  Saul  of  Tarsus  spent  the  years 
of  preparation  which  preceded  the  great  opportunity  of  his 
life.  It  was  in  the  cultivation  of  such  virtues  that  he 
awaited  the  coming  of  Barnabas. 


IX 

ai)£  5lpostU  of  ti)z  ®entilc0 

(Romans  xi.  13.) 

"  He  looked  abroad,  and  spake  of  some  bright  dawn 
Of  happiness  and  freedom,  peace  and  love ; 
Day  long  desired,  and  now  about  to  break 
On  all  the  nations."  TRENCH. 

IT  is  probable  that  during  his  years  of  quiet  work  in 
Cilicia  and  Syria,  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  being  led  with 
increasing  clearness  to  apprehend  God's  purpose  in  his 
life — that  he  should  be  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  The 
heavenly  voices  at  the  commencement  of  his  Christian 
career  had  announced  that  he  would  be  sent  to  them 
(Acts  XX vi.  20).  Ananias  had  been  informed  that  he  was 
to  be  a  chosen  vessel  to  bear  the  name  of  Jesus  before  the 
Gentiles  and  kings  (ix.  15).  The  vision  in  the  Temple  had 
culminated  in  the  words,  *' Depart:  for  I  will  send  thee 
far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles"  (xxii.  21).  And  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  exigencies  of  his  labor,  for  so  many 
years,  amid  populations  largely  composed  of  Gentiles,  made 
him  feel  the  impulse  of  the  current  that  was  bearing  the 
whole  Church  towards  a  new  departure.  Up  till  now 
Judaism  had  been  the  only  door  into  Christianity ;  hence- 
forth the  door  of  faith  was  to  stand  wide  open  to  Gentiles 
also,  without  circumcision.  Some  suggestion  of  this  is 
furnished  by  his  own  lips,  *'I  declare  both  to  them  of 
Damascus  first,  and  at  Jerusalem — and  a/so  to  the  Gentiles, 


THE  t/JPOSTLE  OF  THE  GENTILES  87 

that  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  doing  works 
worthy  of  repentance"  (xxvi.  20).  But  still  the  true 
channel  bed  of  his  life  was  hardly  discovered  until  circum- 
stances transpired  which  will  now  demand  our  notice. 

I.  Summoned  to  Antioch. — Halfway  through  Luke's 
narrative  the  centre  of  interest  shifts  from  the  mother 
Church  at  Jerusalem  to  one  which  had  been  founded 
shortly  before  the  time  we  are  describing,  in  the  gay, 
frivolous,  busy,  beautiful  city  of  Antioch.  Connected 
with  the  commerce  of  the  Western  world  by  the  River 
Orontes,  which  flowed  majestically  through  the  marble 
palaces  and  crowded  wharves  that  lined  its  banks,  and 
communicating  with  the  thoughtful  conservative  East  by 
the  caravans  that  brought  the  merchandise  of  Mesopotamia 
and  Arabia  through  the  passes  of  the  Lebanon,  Antioch 
was  an  emporium  of  trade,  a  meeting  place  for  the  Old 
World  and  the  New,  *'an  Oriental  Rome,  in  which  all  the 
forms  of  the  civilized  life  of  the  empire  found  some  repre- 
sentation." It  is  for  ever  famous  in  Christian  annals, 
because  a  number  of  unordained  and  unnamed  disciples, 
fleeing  from  Jerusalem  in  the  face  of  Saul's  persecution, 
dared  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  Greeks,  and  to  gather  the 
converts  into  a  church,  in  entire  disregard  of  the  initial 
rite  of  Judaism.  There,  also,  the  disciples  of  *'  the  Way  " 
were  first  called  Christians  from  the  holy  name  which  was 
constantly  on  the  lips  of  teachers  and  taught.  But  the 
imposition  of  that  name  shows  that  the  people  of  Antioch 
were  aware  that  a  new  body  or  sect  was  in  process  of 
formation.  From  Antioch  issued  the  first  missionary 
expedition  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  In  post 
Apostolic  days  it  was  famous  as  the  see  of  the  great  bishop, 
saint,  and  martyr,  Ignatius. 

The  population  of  Antioch  was  a  rabble  of  all  races; 


88  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

but  the  Greek  element  predominated,  with  its  licentious 
rites,  its  vivacious,  sparkling  intellect,  its  marvellously- 
elegant  and  subtle  tongue,  its  passion  for  the  theatre,  the 
arena,  and  the  racecourse.  There  was  need  indeed  that 
the  river  of  Life  should  find  its  way  into  that  swamp  of 
beautiful  but  deadly  corruption ;  but  probably  none  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Church  would  have  dared  to  take  the  initial 
step  of  conducting  its  streams  thither.  Peter  and  the 
Church  at  Jerusalem  were  only  just  learning,  through 
amazing  incidents  in  the  house  of  Cornelius,  that  God 
was  prepared  to  grant  to  Gentile  proselytes  repentance 
unto  life.  It  was  left,  therefore,  to  a  handful  of  fugitive, 
Hellenistic  Jews,  men  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene,  to  break 
through  the  barriers  of  the  centuries,  and  begin  preaching 
the  Lord  Jesus  to  the  Greeks  at  Antioch.  Instantly  the 
Divine  Spirit  honored  their  word,  gave  testimony  to  the 
word  of  God's  grace,  and  a  great  number  believed  and 
turned  to  the  Lord  (Acts  xi.  19-21). 

As  soon  as  tidings  of  these  novel  proceedings  reached 
Jerusalem,  the  Church  despatched  Barnabas,  who  was 
himself  a  Cypriot,  to  make  inquiries  and  report.  His 
verdict  was  definite  and  reassuring.  He  had  no  hesitation 
in  affirming  that  it  was  a  definite  work  of  God's  grace; 
he  rejoiced  that  thue  simple  souls  had  been  thrust  into 
so  ripe  and  plentiful  a  harvest;  and  he  carried  on  the 
work  which  had  been  inaugurated  with  such  success  that 
**  much  people  was  added  unto  the  Lord." 

His  success,  however,  only  added  to  the  perplexity 
and  difficulty  of  the  situation,  and  he  found  himself  face 
to  face  with  a  great  problem.  The  Gentiles  were  pressing 
into  the  Church,  and  taking  their  places  on  an  equality 
with  Jews  at  the  Supper  and  Love  feasts,  an  action  which 
the  more  conservative  Jews  greatly  resented.  The  single- 
hearted  man  was  hardly  able  to  cope  with  the  problem. 


THE  oVX)STLE  OF  THE  GENTILES  89 

But  he  remembered  that  at  his  conversion  his  old  friend 
and  fellow-student  had  been  specially  commissioned  to 
preach  to  the  Gentiles;  and  hoping  that  he  might  be 
ready  with  a  solution,  he  departed  to  Tarsus  to  seek  Saul, 
and  having  found  him  he  brought  him  to  Antioch.  *'And 
it  came  to  pass  that  for  a  whole  year  they  were  gathered 
together  with  the  Church,  and  taught  much  people." 

But  this  year's  experience  at  Ajitioch  was  of  the  utmost 
consequence  to  Saul.  He  learned  from  Barnabas  the 
conclusion  to  which  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  had  come, 
on  hearing  Peter's  recital  of  God's  dealings  with  Cornelius 
and  his  household  (xi.  i8) ;  he  noticed  how  evidently  the 
Spirit  of  God  set  his  seal  upon  appeals,  whether  by 
himself  or  others,  addressed  directly  to  the  Gentiles,  and 
thus  was  led  with  that  deep  appreciation  which  comes 
from  the  education  of  circumstances  to  see  that  believing 
Gentiles  were  fellow-members  of  the  Church  and  fellow- 
heirs  of  the  promises.  God  made  no  distinctions;  why 
should  he?  All  the  while  his  horizon  was  broadening, 
his  confidence  increasing,  his  conception  of  God's  purposes 
deepening,  and  he  was  formulating  the  Gospel  which  he 
afterwards  preached  among  them  (Gal.  ii.  2). 

We  need  not  stay  over  his  brief  visit  to  Jerusalem  at 
the  end  of  his  year's  ministry  at  Antioch,  to  carry  alms 
from  the  Gentile  Christians  to  their  suffering  Jewish 
brethren.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  established  a  precedent 
which  he  followed  in  after  life,  and  proved  that  there  was 
no  sort  of  antagonism  between  the  new  society  and  the 
old,  but  that  all  were  one  in  Christ.  On  this  occasion 
he  does  not  seem  to  have  met  the  Apostles,  who  probably 
had  withdrawn  from  Jerusalem  to  avoid  the  murderous 
hate  of  Herod  (xii.) ;  and  the  gift  of  the  Church  at  Antioch 
was,  therefore,  left  with  the  elders  of  the  mother  Church 
(xi.  30).     And  nothing  occurred  to  divert  the  heart  of  the 


90  PAUL:  J{  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

future  Apostle  from  those  resolves  which  were  crystallizing 
with  increasing  clearness  before  him. 

II.  Set  Apart  by  the  Holy  Spirit. — It  was  a  mo- 
mentous hour  in  the  history  of  the  Church  when,  on  the 
return  of  Barnabas  and  Paul  from  Jerusalem,  they  met, 
with  three  others,  for  a  season  of  fasting  and  prayer. 
What  was  the  immediate  reason  for  this  special  session 
we  cannot  say  ;  but  it  is  significant  that  the  three  prophets 
and  two  teachers  represented  between  them  five  different 
countries.  Were  they  yearning  after  their  own  people, 
and  wistful  to  offer  them  the  Gospel,  as  they  now  saw 
they  might  offer  it,  apart  from  the  trammels  and  restraints 
of  Judaism?  We  cannot  tell.  That,  however,  was  the 
birth  hour  of  modern  missions.  The  Holy  Ghost,  Christ's 
Vicar,  the  Director  and  Administrator  of  the  Church, 
bade  the  little  group  set  apart  two  out  of  their  number 
to  a  mission  which  He  would  unfold  to  them,  as  they 
dared  to  step  out  in  obedience  to  his  command. 

There  was  no  hesitation  or  delay.  The  Church  set  them 
free  from  their  duties,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  sent  them  forth. 
And  that  journey  was  a  complete  answer  to  all  the  questions 
by  which  they  had  been  perplexed. 

In  Cyprus,  to  which  they  were  first  attracted,  because 
Barnabas  was  connected  with  it  through  his  birth  and  estate, 
though  they  proclaimed  the  word  of  God  from  one  end  to 
the  other  in  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews,  they  had  no  fruit 
till  the  Roman  governor  called  them  before  him,  and  sought 
to  hear  their  message,  on  hearing  which  he  believed. 

After  landing  on  the  mainland,  Paul,  contrary  to  the  judg- 
ment of  John  and  Mark,  struck  up  from  the  seacoast  to  the  f?r- 
reaching  tablelands  of  the  interior,  four  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea  level,  with  the  evident  intention  of  establish- 
ing churches  on  the  great  trade  route  which  ran  through 


THE  ,/IPOSTLE  OF  THE  GENTILES  91 

Asia  Minor  from  Tarsus  to  Ephesus.  What  might  not  be 
the  result  for  East  and  West,  if  this  great  mutual  bridge 
were  to  become  a  highway  for  the  feet  of  the  Son  of  God  ! 
But  there  the  same  experience  awaited  him. 

The  Jews  in  Antioch  and  Pisidia  refused,  whilst  the  Gen- 
tiles welcomed  them.  Indeed  he  was  compelled  to  turn 
publicly  from  his  own  countrymen,  and  hold  up  the  Gospel 
as  light  and  salvation  to  those  whom  the  prophet  described 
as  at  the  uttermost  end  of  the  earth.  Then  it  was  that  the 
word  of  the  Lord  spread  throughout  all  the  region. 

At  Iconium,  whither  they  fled  before  a  persecution  which 
made  it  unsafe  to  remain  in  Antioch,  they  again  found  the 
malice  of  the  Jews  so  persistent  that  they  were  driven  forth 
into  the  Gentile  cities  and  district  of  Lycaonia,  where  there 
were  probably  no  synagogues  at  all.  There,  too,  they 
preached  the  Gospel,  and  made  many  disciples. 

Everywhere  it  was  the  Jewish  element  that  was  obstruct- 
ive and  implacable ;  while  the  Gentiles,  when  left  to  them- 
selves, received  them  and  their  message  with  open  arms. 
God  gave  manifest  testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace 
whenever  they  unfolded  it  to  the  Gentiles ;  set  before  those 
eager  seekers  the  open  door  of  faith ;  and  granted  signs 
and  wonders  to  be  wrought  of  His  servants'  hands  (Acts 
xiv.  3,  27;  XV.  12). 

As  Paul  quietly  studied  these  indications  of  God's  will, 
he  needed  no  angel  to  tell  him  that  as  Israel  would  not 
hear,  God  was  provoking  them  to  jealousy  by  them  who 
were  not  a  people.  He  saw  that  the  original  branches  were 
being  broken  off,  that  the  wild  olive  grafts  might  take 
their  place.  Blindness  was  happening  to  Israel,  until  the 
fulness  of  the  Gentiles  had  been  gathered  in  (Rom.  xi.  8, 
17,  25)  His  love  was  not  abated.  How  could  it  be?  Were 
they  not  his  brethren,  his  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh? 
But  he  must  follow  the  divine  plan. 


92  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Probably  Paul's  greatest  experience  of  this  journey  was 
his  first  visit  to  the  warm-hearted  Galatians,  whose  country 
is  probably  referred  to  in  the  vague  allusion  of  Acts  xiv.  24. 
In  any  case,  his  insistence  in  his  epistle  that  he  had 
preached  to  them  the  Gospel  as  he  had  received  it  direct 
and  undiluted  from  Christ,  compels  us  to  locate  his  first 
acquaintance  with  them  at  this  time,  and  before  that 
memorable  visit  to  Jerusalem,  to  which  we  shall  refer  pres- 
ently, and  in  which  he  consulted  the  apostles  concerning 
the  Gospel  he  proclaimed  (Acts  xv. ;  Gal.  ii.).  It  is  prob- 
able that  he  was  detained  amongst  them  by  a  painful  attack 
of  his  habitual  malady,  aggravated  by  climatic  changes,  or 
malaria,  *' Ye  know,"  he  says,  *'that  because  of  an  in- 
firmity of  the  flesh,  I  preached  the  gospel  unto  you  the  first 
time ;  and  that  which  was  a  temptation  in  my  flesh  ye  de- 
spised not,  nor  rejected."  So  far  from  rejecting  him  on 
this  account,  his  sorrows  and  afflictions  only  touched  them 
more  to  the  quick,  and  bound  them  to  him.  **  I  bear  you 
witness,"  he  says,  **  that,  if  possible,  ye  would  have 
plucked  out  your  own  eyes  and  given  them  to  me." 

His  success  among  this  afl*ectionate  people  was  remark- 
able, and  still  further  deepened  the  impression,  which  was 
becoming  the  guiding  star  of  his  career,  that  he  must  bend 
his  strength  to  the  salvation  of  the  Gentiles,  whose  cause 
had  been  laid  on  his  heart  at  the  hour  of  his  conversion. 

III.  His  Apostolate  recognized  by  the  Apostles. 
— We  do  not  propose  to  add  anything  to  the  discussion  in 
which  so  much  has  been  urged  on  either  side,  as  to  the 
time  when  the  visit  to  Jerusalem,  referred  to  in  Gal.  ii., 
took  place.  After  carefully  considering  the  arguments  of 
those  who  would  identify  it  with  the  visit  to  bring  alms 
mentioned  above,  and  of  those  who  would  make  it  a  sepa- 
rate visit  for  the  special  purpose  of  obtaining  the  opinion 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  THE  GENTILES  93 

of  the  leaders  on  his  ministry — we  fall  back  on  the  more 
generally  received  view  that  Gal.  ii.  refers  to  the  visit  men- 
tioned in  Acts  XV.,  when,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  succeeding 
chapter,  he  was  sent  as  a  deputation  from  Antioch  to  Jeru- 
salem to  obtain  the  views  of  the  Apostles  on  the  admission 
of  Gentiles  into  the  Church. 

It  is  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose  to  notice  that  Paul 
definitely  sought  the  opinion  of  those  in  repute  among  the 
Apostles  on  his  teaching,  lest  by  any  means  he  should  be 
running,  or  had  run,  in  vain.  In  the  course  of  several  in- 
terviews it  became  increasingly  evident  to  James,  Peter, 
and  John,  that  their  former  persecutor  had  received  a  Divine 
commission  to  the  Gentiles.  They  realized  that  he  had 
been  entrusted  with  the  Gospel  of  the  uncircumcision. 
Peter  especially  recognized  that  he  who  wrought  in  himself 
unto  the  apostolate  of  the  Jew  was  equally  energetic  in  his 
fervid  soul  unto  the  Gentile.  The  responsible  leaders  of 
the  mother  Church  could  not  help  perceiving  the  grace  that 
was  given  to  him  ;  and  finally  they  gave  to  him  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship,  that  he  should  go  to  the  Gentiles, 
whilst  they  went  to  the  circumcision. 

This  was  the  further  and  final  confirmation  of  the  pur- 
pose which  had  been  forming  in  his  heart ;  and  he  recog- 
nized that  he  was  appointed  a  herald  and  an  apostle,  a 
teacher  of  the  Gentiles  in  faith  and  truth.  He  gloried  in 
this  ministry,  and  often  spoke  of  the  grace  which  had  been 
given  to  him,  the  least  of  all  saints,  to  preach  unto  the 
Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  He  never  failed 
to  begin  his  work  in  any  place  by  an  honest  endeavor  to 
save  some  of  his  own  flesh ;  but  he  always  realized  that  his 
supreme  stewardship  was  to  those  who  were  called  uncir- 
cumcision by  that  which  was  called  circumcision  in  the  flesh 
made  by  hands. 

By  the  hand  of  the  risen  Jesus  he  had  been  appointed  to 


94  P/iUL:  ^  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

the  apostleship.  In  nothing  did  he  come  behind  the  very 
chiefest  of  the  Apostles ;  and  truly  the  signs  of  an  Apostle 
were  wrought  through  his  means,  in  all  signs  and  wonders 
and  mighty  works  (i  Cor.  ix.  i ;  xv.  9 ;  Gal.  i.  i). 

Surely,  then,  it  is  befitting  that  the  Church  which  bears 
his  name  should  stand  in  the  heart  of  the  greatest  Gentile 
city  of  the  age,  and  bear  the  emblem  of  the  death  of  Christ 
above  its  smoke  and  turmoil — the  sign  of  the  work  and 
service  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 


"Jottrteen  ^ears  5lga" 

(2  Corinthians  xii.  2-5.) 

"  We  are  not  free 
To  say  we  see  not,  for  the  glory  comes 
Nightly  and  daily,  like  the  flowing  sea ; 
His  lustre  pierceth  through  the  midnight  glooms; 
And,  at  prime  hour,  behold !  He  follows  me 
With  golden  shadows  to  my  secret  rooms !  " 

C.  T.  Turner. 

IF  we  count  back  fourteen  years  from  the  writing  of  this 
epistle,  we  shall  find  ourselves  amid  the  events  narrated 
in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  chapters  of  the  Book  of 
the  Acts ;  especially  at  that  momentous  hour  in  the  history 
of  Christianity  when  five  men,  representing  five  different 
countries,  met  together  to  fast  and  pray  about  the  state  of 
the  world  and  their  duty  in  respect  to  it.  The  Evangelist 
tells  us  in  two  chapters  the  results  of  that  conference,  in 
the  separation  and  sending  forth  of  the  two  missionaries ; 
and  of  the  hardships,  difficulties,  and  sufferings  through 
which  they  fulfilled  their  high  calling.  But  Paul  draws 
aside  the  veil  from  his  heart  and  shows  us  what  his  inner 
experiences  were  during  those  wonderful  months.  He  was 
a  man  in  Christ,  caught  up  into  Paradise,  the  third  heaven, 
to  hear  unspeakable  words.  Luke  dwells  on  the  outside, 
the  covering  of  badger  skins ;  Paul  on  the  inside,  the  hang- 
ings of  blue.  Luke  speaks  of  the  man ;  Paul  of  the  man 
— in  Christ.     Luke  depicts  the  sorrows  and  tears  that  beset 

95 


96  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

him ;  Paul  the  elation  and  joy  which  bore  him  to  the  very 
bosom  of  Christ,  so  that  many  pains  and  sorrows  were 
actually  necessary  as  a  makeweight,  lest  he  should  be 
exalted  above  measure  on  account  of  the  abundance  of 
revelations  afforded  him. 

How  little  we  know  of  one  another's  lives  !  Only  the 
little  circle  around  us,  or  some  twin  soul,  and  sometimes 
not  these,  realize  the  visions  and  revelations,  or  hear  the 
unspeakable  words,  which  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  favored 
soul.  Perhaps  even  Barnabas,  who  shared  the  toils  and 
perils  of  this  man  of  God,  had  little  or  no  conception  of 
what  his  companion  was  experiencing.  He  beheld  the 
same  scenes  on  which  their  outward  gaze  rested,  but  not 
the  visions  that  were  unfolded  to  the  inner  eye.  He  heard 
the  voices  that  sounded  in  their  ears,  of  blaspheming  and 
reviling  critics,  with  which  so  few  notes  of  comfort  and  en- 
couragement blended ;  but  he  was  not  aware  of  the  still 
small  voice  of  Christ,  which  bade  Paul  have  no  fear. 

It  would  be  a  sorry  thing  if  all  our  life  could  be  summed 
up  in  our  journeyings  to  and  fro  on  life's  thoroughfares, 
our  business  engagements,  or  our  glad  intercourse  with  the 
dear  ones  of  the  home  circle,  if  there  were  nothing  except 
what  a  Barnabas  might  share,  and  a  Luke  record.  A 
Chinese  picture  that  lacks  light,  and  shade,  and  depth,  is 
not  art.  We  need  to  dwell  deep,  to  have  a  life  beneath  a 
life,  to  have  windows  in  our  heart  that  look  across  the  river 
into  the  unseen  and  eternal.  The  pictures  that  fascinate 
are  those  that  suggest  more  than  they  reveal,  in  which  the 
blue  distance  fades  into  the  heavens,  and  the  light  mist 
veils  mountain,  moorland,  and  sea.  Oh  for  the  peace  that 
passeth  understanding,  the  joy  that  is  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory,  the  deep  things  which  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  nor  the  heart  of  man  conceived  !  We  may  be  thank- 
ful, therefore,  that  we  can  supplement  the  narrative  of  Luke 


*" FOURTEEN  YEARS  AGO''  97 

by  the  words  of  the  Apostle,  as  he  recalls  what  happened 
to  him  fourteen  years  before  he  wrote. 

I.  The  Description  the  Apostle  gives  of  Himself. 
— "A  man  in  Christ."  He  was  in  Christ,  but  that  did 
not  make  him  less  a  man.  There  are  three  qualities 
in  a  truly  manly  character:  Resolution,  Fortitude,  and 
Courage. 

Resolution — that  a  man  will  take  up  one  high  ambition 
and  aim,  prosecuting  it  through  good  and  evil  report, 
through  sun  and  storm.  How  evidently  this  characterized 
the  Apostle,  who  pursued  his  purpose  of  ministering  to  the 
Gentiles  from  Antioch  to  Iconium,  and  thence  to  Lystra 
and  Derbe.  The  hatred  of  the  Jews  did  not  dissuade ;  the 
fickleness  of  the  crowds  did  not  daunt;  the  hailstone 
storm  of  stones  at  Lystra  did  not  turn  him  aside.  It  was 
his  persistent  ambition  to  preach  the  Gospel  where  Christ 
had  not  been  named,  so  that  they  should  see  to  whom  no 
tidings  of  Him  had  come,  and  they  who  had  not  heard 
should  understand. 

Fortitude — that  a  man  should  be  able  to  sustain  sorrow 
and  heartrending  anguish.  Every  true  man  needs  this, 
for  there  is  no  one  without  his  hours  of  heartrending  grief, 
when  it  seems  as  though  the  heartstrings  must  break  and 
the  lifeblood  be  shed.  Then  to  be  strong,  to  steer  straight 
onward,  to  dare  to  praise  God,  to  sit  alone  and  keep 
silence,  because  He  hath  laid  it  upon  us,  to  put  our 
mouths  in  the  dust,  if  so  be  there  may  be  hope — here  is 
fortitude  indeed.  But  Paul  manifested  this  also,  when  he 
bore  with  uncomplaining  nobility  the  cowardice  of  Mark, 
the  relentless  hatred  of  his  fellow-countrymen,  and  after  his 
stoning  at  Lystra,  aroused  from  what  had  seemed  to  be  his 
death  swoon,  struggled  back  into  the  city  from  which  he 
had  been  dragged  to  all  appearance  a  corpse,  and  having 


98  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  fESUS  CHRIST 

saluted  the  brethren,  and  especially  the  young  Timothy, 
started  on  the  following  morning  to  continue  his  loved  work 
in  the  neighboring  cities  of  Lycaonia. 

Courage — that  a  man  should  have  a  heart,  like  John 
Knox,  the  inscription  on  whose  tomb  tells  us  that  one  lies 
beneath  who  never  feared  the  face  of  clay.  Paul  never 
lacked  courage.  He  never  flinched  from  facing  an  amphi- 
theatre full  of  raging  fanatics,  or  braving  consuls  and  pro- 
curators, or  from  withstanding  an  apostle  who  deserved 
to  be  blamed.  And  his  heroic  courage  was  conspicuously 
manifested  in  this  very  journey,  that  instead  of  taking  an 
easier  and  directer  route  home  by  way  of  his  native  city 
and  the  Cilician  Gates,  he  dared  to  retrace  his  steps  to 
each  of  the  cities  in  which  he  had  preached,  confirming  the 
souls  of  the  disciples,  exhorting  them  to  continue  in  the 
faith,  and  that  through  many  tribulations  we  must  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God.  At  great  personal  risk  he  stayed 
long  enough  in  each  place  to  appoint  elders  in  the  infant 
communities,  and  to  pray  with  fasting,  commending  them 
to  God,  on  whom  they  believed. 

When  we  become  Christian  men  we  do  not  forfeit  these 
characteristics.  No,  but  they  become  purified  of  in- 
gredients that  might  vitiate  and  corrupt  them.  Apart  from 
Christ  resolution  may  become  obstinacy,  fortitude  stoicism, 
and  courage  fatalism.  These  are  exaggerations,  and  there- 
fore defects.  Directly,  however,  a  man  is  in  Christ — not 
only  in  Christ  for  position,  but  in  Christ  for  condition;  not 
only  in  Christ  for  standing,  but  in  Christ  in  his  daily  walk ; 
not  only  in  Christ  as  before  God,  but  for  the  environing  at- 
mosphere of  his  daily  life — then  all  danger  of  exaggeration 
is  done  away,  and  the  native  strength  of  manly  character  is 
invigorated  from  the  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Judah,  and 
sweetened  by  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  the  Lamb  who 
was  slain. 


"^ FOURTEEN  YEARS  AGO'*  99 

II.  To  SUCH,  BRIDAL  MOMENTS  COME. — Days  of  the 
bridal  of  heaven  and  earth — high  days — hours  of  vision 
and  ecstasy — when  the  tide  runs  high  and  fast,  and  the  cup 
of  life  brims  to  overflow.  "  I  knew  such  an  one  caught  up 
even  to  the  third  heaven,  to  Paradise,  and  heard  unspeak- 
able words,  which  it  is  not  lawful  for  a  man  to  utter.  On 
behalf  of  such  a  man  will  I  glory." 

At  first  we  might  suppose  that  the  Apostle  was  really  de- 
scribing the  experience  of  someone  else.  He  appears  to 
distinguish  between  that  blessed  man,  whose  experience  he 
was  describing,  and  himself.  "  On  mine  own  behalf  I  will 
not  glory,  save  in  my  weaknesses. ' '  But  as  his  story  pro- 
ceeds, and  he  tells  us  that  by  reason  of  the  visions  and 
revelations  granted  to  him  there  was  danger  of  his  being 
exalted  overmuch,  it  becomes  clear  that  he  is  describing 
some  radiant  experiences  through  which  he  passed  during 
that  first  missionary  tour — so  marked,  so  blessed,  so  full  of 
transfiguring  glory  that  their  light  had  not  entirely  died 
from  his  heart,  though  a  chasm  of  fourteen  years  lay  between. 

Such  experiences  may  come  in  hours  of  great  pain.  The 
conjecture  has  been  hazarded  that  this  rapture  into  Paradise 
took  place  during  the  Apostle's  stoning  at  Lystra.  But  be 
this  as  it  may,  he  could  find  no  words  to  tell  what  he  saw 
and  heard.  The  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  had  a  similar 
experience;  he  too  saw  through  heaven's  open  door,  but 
with  all  his  wealth  of  language  he  has  failed  to  do  more 
than  ransack  creation  and  revelation  for  imagery  and  sym- 
bols which  leave  us  in  a  condition  of  bewilderment,  like  the 
masses  of  color  in  Turner's  later  pictures.  Paradise  were 
indeed  a  poor  place  if  words  could  describe  it.  The  third 
heaven  were  not  worthy  of  its  Maker  if  its  glories  did  not 
transcend  our  furthest  imaginings.  He  hath  set  eternity  in 
our  heart,  a  capacity  for  the  infinite,  a  yearning  after  the 
Divine.     In  hours  of  reverie,  when  stirred  by  certain  notes 


100  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

in  music,  especially  of  the  violin  or  organ,  when  under  the 
spell  of  a  sunset  on  a  summer's  eve,  when  we  wake  up  to 
love,  we  know  that  words  are  but  the  counters  of  thought, 
the  signs  and  symbols  of  realities,  and  not  the  realities. 
Translate  into  words  for  me  the  sighings  of  the  wind  through 
the  forest,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  sea  down  a  pebbly 
beach,  and  the  spring  sunlight  playing  on  the  hyacinth- 
strewn  grass.  You  cannot !  Then  you  know  why  the 
Apostle  described  his  experiences  in  Paradise  as  unspeak- 
able. 

But  these  hours  are  as  evanescent  as  they  are  unspeak- 
able. Why  ?  Lest  we  should  be  exalted  above  measure, 
and  become  proud.  If  the  Apostle  feared  this,  much  more 
should  we.  Lest  we  should  come  to  trust  in  an  experience, 
as  an  aim  or  object  of  life,  instead  of  regarding  it  as  God's 
seal  and  testimony,  which  He  may  withhold,  if  we  make 
more  of  it  than  we  ought.  We  must  not  live  in  an  experi- 
ence ;  but  in  Jesus,  from  whom,  as  from  the  sun,  all  lovely 
and  helpful  experiences  emanate.  Lest  we  should  get  out 
of  touch  with  men  and  women  around  us,  the  majority  of 
whom  do  not  live  on  mountain  tops,  but  in  valleys,  where 
demons  possess  and  worry  the  afflicted. 

Through  God's  wise  providence  such  radiant  hours  do 
not  linger,  because  our  strength  is  not  fed  from  them.  We 
shall  not  get  much  working  strength  out  of  whipped  cream, 
however  pleasant  it  taste  to  the  palate ;  and  if  we  only  rely 
on  the  raptures  of  Paradise  for  our  sources  of  spiritual  power, 
we  shall  come  lamentably  short  of  our  true  reinforcements. 
So  God,  in  his  mercy,  gives  them  once  or  twice,  now  and 
again ;  and  at  the  time  of  sending  them  accompanies  them 
with  a  makeweight,  that  we  may  be  reminded  of  our  utter 
weakness  and  helplessness,  and  be  driven  to  avail  ourselves 
of  his  grace,  in  which  alone  is  our  sufficiency. 

Do  not  expect  the  vision  of  Paradise  to  linger ;  it  would 


'* FOURTEEN  YEARS  AGO"  101 

dazzle  you,  and  make  life  unnatural  and  unreal.  Do  not 
regret  the  passage  of  the  blessed,  rapturous  hours,  light  of 
step  and  fleet  of  pace.  Do  not  think  that  you  have  fallen 
from  grace  when  their  flush  and  glow  are  over.  Whether 
they  fall  to  your  constant  lot  or  not,  or  even  if  they  never 
visit  you,  you  are  still  in  Christ,  still  joined  to  the  Lord, 
still  accepted  in  the  Beloved ;  and  neither  height  of  rapture 
nor  depth  of  depression  shall  ever  separate  you  from  the 
love  of  God,  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Be  con- 
tent, then,  to  turn,  as  Jesus  did,  from  the  rapture  of  Para- 
dise, presented  on  the  Transfiguration  Mount,  to  take  the 
way  of  the  cross,  through  which  you  will  become  able  to 
open  Paradise  to  souls  in  despair,  like  the  dying  thief. 

III.  The  Discipline  of  Pain. — We  need  not  stay  to  dis- 
cuss what  was  the  nature  of  Paul's  thorn  in  the  flesh.  It  is 
not  very  material  now  and  here.  Enough  that  it  was  very 
painful.  Paul  calls  it  a  *'  a  stake,"  as  though  he  were  im- 
paled ;  and  it  must  have  been  physical,  as  he  could  not  have 
prayed  thrice  for  the  removal  of  a  moral  taint,  and  been 
refused.  In  infinite  wisdom  God  permitted  the  messenger 
of  Satan  to  buffet  his  servant;  and  all  through  that  first 
missionary  journey  he  had  to  face  a  long  succession  of  buf- 
fetings.  There  were  perils  of  robbers,  of  waters,  of  moun- 
tain passes,  and  of  violent  crowds ;  but  in  addition  to  all, 
there  was  the  lacerating  thorn. 

He  probably  suffered  from  weak  eyes,  or  some  distressing 
form  of  ophthalmia.  We  infer  this  from  the  eagerness  of 
his  Galatian  converts  to  give  him  their  eyes,  from  his  de- 
pendence on  an  amanuensis,  and  from  the  clumsy  letters 
with  which  he  wrote  the  postscripts  to  his  epistles  (Gal. 
vi.  II,  R.V.).  And  if  this  were  the  case,  the  pain  would  be 
greatly  aggravated  as  he  faced  the  keen  blasts  that  swept  the 
mountain  plateau  on  which  the  Pisidian  Antioch  was  situated. 


102  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANl   OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Was  it  during  this  journey  that  he  besought  the  Lord  on 
three  separate  occasions  for  deliverance,  and  received  the 
assurance  that  though  the  thorns  were  left,  more  than  suffi- 
cient grace  would  be  given  ?  If  so,  like  a  peal  of  bells,  at 
Antioch,  Iconium,  Derbe,  and  Lystra,  he  must  have  heard 
the  music  of  those  tender  words  :  My  grace  is  sufficient, 
sufficienty  sufficient  for  thee  !  Sufficient  when  friends  for- 
sake, and  foes  pursue ;  sufficient  to  make  thee  strong  against 
a  raging  synagogue,  or  a  shower  of  stones  ;  sufficient  for  ex- 
cessive labors  of  body,  and  conflicts  of  souls ;  sufficient  to 
enable  thee  to  do  as  much  work,  and  even  more,  than  if  the 
body  were  perfectly  whole — for  my  strength  is  made  per- 
fect only  amid  the  conditions  of  mortal  weakness. 

In  estimating  the  greatness  of  a  man's  life  work,  it  is  fair 
to  take  into  consideration  the  difficulties  under  which  he  has 
wrought.  And  how  greatly  does  our  appreciation  of  the 
Apostle  rise  when  we  remember  that  he  was  incessantly  in 
pain.  Instead,  however,  of  sitting  down  in  despair,  and 
pleading  physical  infirmity  as  his  excuse  for  doing  nothing, 
he  bravely  claimed  the  grace  which  waited  within  call,  and 
did  greater  work  through  God's  enabling  might  than  he 
could  have  done  through  his  own  had  it  been  unhindered 
by  his  weakness. 

Ah,  afflicted  ones,  your  disabilities  were  meant  to  unite 
with  God's  enablings ;  your  weakness  to  mate  His  power. 
Do  not  sit  down  before  that  mistaken  marriage,  that  uncon- 
genial business,  that  unfortunate  partnership,  that  physical 
weakness,  that  hesitancy  of  speech,  that  disfigurement  of 
face,  as  though  they  must  necessarily  maim  and  conquer 
you.  God's  grace  is  at  hand — sufficient — and  at  its  best 
when  human  weakness  is  most  profound.  Appropriate  it, 
and  learn  that  those  that  wait  on  God  are  stronger  in  their 
weakness  than  the  sons  of  men  in  their  stoutest  health  and 
vigor. 


XI 

aije  €onflirt  of  |)aul*0  £ife 

(Acts  xv.  ;  Gal.  ii.) 

**  Some  law  there  needs  be,  other  than  the  law 
Of  our  own  wills ;  happy  is  he  who  finds 
A  law  wherein  his  spirit  is  left  free. 
,  .  ,  ,  I  will  not  bend  again 
My  spirit  to  a  yoke  that  is  not  Christ's." 

H.  Hamilton  King. 

IN  the  separation  of  Abraham  from  country,  kindred,  and 
father's  house,  the  story  of  his  people  was  foreshadowed. 
As  Balaam,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty,  said,  Lo, 
it  is  a  people  that  dwell  alone,  and  shall  not  be  reckoned 
among  the  nations.  Their  dress,  rites,  customs,  and  re- 
ligious habits,  were  carefully  and  expressly  determined  to 
accentuate  their  separation,  that,  being  withdrawn  from  the 
influence  of  surrounding  nations,  they  might  be  fitted  to  re- 
ceive, keep,  and  transmit  the  knowledge  of  God.  In  no 
other  way  could  they  have  borne  the  precious  deposit  en- 
trusted to  them  down  the  centuries,  and  maintained  their 
unbroken  witness  to  the  unity,  spirituality,  and  holiness  of 
God.  Not  otherwise  could  they  have  become  the  religious 
poets,  prophets,  and  teachers  of  mankind. 

The  laws  of  separation  were  so  rigid  that  Peter  did  not 
scruple  to  remind  Cornelius  and  his  friends  of  the  risk  he 
ran  in  crossing  the  threshold  of  a  Gentile's  house,  although 
his  host  was  a  man  of  high  rank,  of  irreproachable  char- 
acter, and  well  reported  of  by  all  the  nation  of  the  Jews. 

»3 


104  PAUL:  J{  SERVAhIT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

And  when  Peter  was  come  up  to  Jerusalem,  even  his  fellow - 
believers,  who  were  of  the  circumcision,  found  grievous 
fault  with  him  :  **  They  contended  with  him,  saying.  Thou 
wentest  in  to  men  uncircumcised,  and  didst  eat  with  them." 
The  law  of  commandments,  contained  in  ordinances,  some 
of  them  ordained  through  Moses,  and  many  superadded  by 
successive  generations  of  doctors  and  rabbis,  stood  like  a 
middle  wall  of  partition  between  Jew  and  Gentile. 

All  these  barriers  and  restrictions  were  represented  in  the 
initial  act  of  Judaism,  the  rite  of  circumcision,  the  impor- 
tance of  which  had  been  magnified  to  a  most  preposterous 
extent.  It  was  affirmed  by  one  rabbi  that  but  for  circum- 
cision heaven  and  earth  could  not  exist ;  and  by  another 
that  it  was  equivalent  to  all  the  commandments  of  the  law. 
It  was  counted  more  desirable  for  a  Gentile  to  submit  to 
this  rite  than  to  obey  all  the  affirmative  precepts  of  Moses, 
or  to  love  God  and  his  neighbor.  It  was  supposed  that 
Adam,  Noah,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses,  and  Balaam,  had  all 
been  born  circumcised  ;  and  that  subsequently  the  rite  was 
under  the  special  and  peculiar  charge  of  the  great  prophet 
Elijah,  who  was  always  at  hand  to  see  to  its  due  observ- 
ance. 

The  rigor  of  these  observances  was  heavy  enough  in  Je- 
rusalem. But  in  foreign  parts,  amid  great  Gentile  com- 
munities, with  whom  the  Jews  were  constantly  engaged  in 
commerce,  it  became  customary  to  relax  the  stringency  of 
the  bonds  of  Judaism,  though  always  maintaining  circum- 
cision, the  intermarriage  of  Jew  with  Jew,  and  that  particu- 
lar method  of  preparing  animal  flesh  for  food  which  is  still 
in  vogue  amongst  Jews.  It  was  clear,  therefore,  that  any 
innovation  which  Christianity  might  introduce  into  Judaism 
would  be  more  likely  to  reveal  itself  at  a  distance  from 
Jerusalem,  where  it  would  not  be  instantly  repressed  by  the 
unbending  conservative  sentiment  so  strongly  entrenched  in 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  PAULS  LIFE  105 

the  metropolis  of  the  national  faith.  We  are  not  surprised, 
therefore,  that  Antioch  became  the  scene  of  that  forward 
movement,  led  by  Barnabas  and  Paul,  which  consisted  in 
openly  welcoming  Gentile  converts  into  the  Christian  com- 
munity, without  insisting  on  their  previous  conformity  to 
the  venerable  rite  of  circumcision. 

This  marked  a  great  advance.  Hitherto,  especially  in 
Judaea,  the  Christians  were  regarded  by  the  people  as  a  Jew- 
ish sect ;  and  so  long  as  they  were  prepared  to  attend  the 
Temple  services,  conform  to  the  regulations,  and  maintain 
the  institutions  of  Judaism,  their  belief  in  Jesus  as  the 
long-promised  Messiah  was  regarded  as  a  peculiarity  which 
might  be  condoned  and  winked  at.  It  was  permissible 
that  they  should  meet  in  the  love  feast,  so  long  as  they  did 
not  forsake  the  Temple ;  they  might  pray  to  Jesus  as  God 
if  they  acted  in  all  other  respects  as  devout  Jews.  But  if 
this  rule  had  been  universally  maintained,  Christianity,  like 
a  stream  in  a  marshy  land,  would  have  speedily  been  lost 
to  view.  After  a  few  brief  years  it  would  have  been  indis- 
tinguishable. And  Judaism,  with  its  intolerable  burden  and 
exaggerations,  would  have  stood  forth  among  men  as  the 
only  representative  of  the  purest  faith  which  had  ever  vis- 
ited our  world.  The  world  of  the  Gentiles  would  have 
been  hopelessly  alienated ;  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  would  have  been  put  back  for  centuries,  even  if  it  had 
ever  emerged  from  the  stifling  conditions  of  its  cradle. 

All  this,  however,  was  prevented  by  the  policy  to  which 
Barnabas  and  Paul  had  been  led.  In  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians  (ii.  4,  12)  we  have  a  pleasant  glimpse  of  the 
liberty  which  the  converts  in  Antioch  had  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Circumcised  and  uncircumcised  joined  in  the  common  ex- 
ercises of  Christian  fellowship.  They  ate  together  with- 
out question  ;  and  even  Peter,  when  on  a  visit  to  Antioch, 
was  so  charmed  with  the  godly  simplicity  and  beauty  of 


106  PAUL:  ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

their  communion,  that  he  joined  freely  with  them,  and 
partook  of  their  love  feasts  and  common  meals. 

The  conservative  party  in  the  Jerusalem  Church,  how- 
ever, on  hearing  these  tidings,  was  ill  at  ease.  They  saw 
that  if  this  principle  were  allowed  to  be  universal,  it  would 
undermine  their  authority,  and  eventually  rend  their  reli- 
gious supremacy  from  their  grasp.  They  could  not  brook 
the  thought  that  circumcision  might  fall  into  disuse,  and 
that  the  deep  spiritual  teaching  of  Moses  might  become 
common  coin  for  the  handling  of  Gentile  fingers;  and, 
therefore,  as  the  first  step,  sent  down  false  brethren,  who 
were  privily  brought  in,  and  came  to  spy  out  the  liberty 
which  the  Church  at  Antioch  practised.  Then,  when  they 
were  assured  of  the  facts,  certain  men  came  down  from 
Judaea,  and  taught  the  brethren,  saying,  "  Except  ye  be 
circumcised  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be  saved." 

It  was  an  important  crisis,  and  led  to  the  breaking  out  of 
a  controversy  which  embittered  many  succeeding  years  in 
the  Apostle's  life ;  but  it  led  to  some  of  his  noblest  epistles, 
and  to  his  exposition  of  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  with 
unrivalled  clearness  and  beauty. 

I.  Great  Questions  were  at  Stake. — This,  for  in- 
stance :  Whether  Christianity  was  to  be  a  sect  of  Judaism, 
a  chamber  in  the  Temple,  a  bud  confined  in  its  green 
sheath,  a  dwarfed  and  stunted  babe  in  swaddling  clothes 
that  forbade  its  natural  development  ?  And  this  :  Whether 
the  Levitical  institutions  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  of  feasts 
and  fasts,  were  of  a  piece  with  the  great  moral  code  of 
Sinai  and  Deuteronomy  ;  or  might  be  regarded  as  temporary 
and  fugitive,  brought  in  for  a  specific  purpose,  but  to  be 
laid  aside  when  that  purpose  was  fulfilled  ?  But  this  most 
of  all :  What  were  the  conditions  on  which  men  might  be 
saved  ? 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  PAUL'S  LIFE  107 

The  conditions  of  salvation  are  debated  in  the  language 
of  every  age.  The  terms  vary,  but  the  controversy  is  al- 
ways the  same.  Substitute  Ritualism  for  Judaism,  and  the 
rites  of  the  Church  for  circumcision,  and  you  are  con- 
fronted by  the  same  questions  and  issues  as  were  encoun- 
tered by  our  Apostle.  Still  men  say.  Except  you  be  chris- 
tened, confirmed,  and  received  into  our  church,  ye  cannot 
be  saved.  And  it  is  from  Paul's  store  of  arguments,  with 
which  apparently  before  his  old  age  his  adversaries  were 
silenced,  that  we  must  find  our  weapons,  as  Luther  found 
them  before  us. 

Salvation  is  not  secured  by  obedience  to  a  rite,  by  the 
observance  of  a  code  of  rules,  or  even  by  obedience  to  a 
creed,  pronounced  orthodox.  A  man  may  be  precise  in  all 
of  these  and  yet  be  under  the  wrath  of  God,  and  his 
character  be  scarred  by  passion  and  self-indulgence.  The 
only  condition  of  salvation  is  faith,  which  believes  in  Him 
that  justifies  the  ungodly,  and  receives  into  the  heart  the 
very  nature  of  Jesus  to  become  the  power  of  the  new  life. 
How  infinitely  unimportant,  then,  compared  with  faith,  is 
any  outward  rite.  It  may  have  its  place,  as  the  outward 
sign  and  seal  of  the  covenant,  but  it  has  no  efficacy  apart 
from  the  spiritual  act. 

But  there  is  a  constant  tendency  in  the  human  heart  to 
magnify  the  importance  of  the  outward  rite  to  the  minimiz- 
ing of  the  value  of  the  spiritual  attribute,  which  it  should 
express  or  accompany.  The  outward  is  so  much  more 
accessible,  manageable,  and  computable ;  the  spiritual  so 
removed  from  human  vision  and  manipulation.  In  these 
days  men  are  prone  to  magnify  the  ordinances  of  Baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  precise  manner  in  which  these 
Judaizing  Christians  magnified  circumcision.  And  when 
they  are  allowed  to  do  so,  their  whole  theory  of  religion 
becomes  mechanical  and  formal.     Those  who  punctiliously 


108  PAUL:  Jl  SERVAm  OF  fESUS  CHRIST 

follow  their  precepts  are  hopelessly  led  into  the  ditch, 
whilst  those  who  denounce  their  error  are  anathematized 
and  consigned  to  the  uncovenanted  mercies  of  God. 

Let  us  never  forget,  then,  that  circumcision  availeth 
nothing,  nor  uncircumcision ;  but  faith  which  worketh  by 
love,  a  new  creature,  and  the  keeping  of  the  commandments 
of  God.  And  let  us  never  fail  to  follow  the  Apostle's  ex- 
ample, who  said,  **  To  whom  we  gave  place  in  the  way  of 
subjection,  no,  not  for  an  hour,  that  the  truth  of  the  Gospel 
might  continue  with  you." 

II.  The  Arguments  on  Either  Side. — "There  was 
much  contention." 

DtW  not  Jesus  fulfill  the  law  of  Moses  ?  Was  He  not 
circumcised  ?  And  did  He  not  rigorously  observe  the  Temple 
fasts  and  feasts ^  and  even  pay  his  share  in  the  Temple 
tax? 

Certainly,  said  Barnabas  and  Paul :  but  you  must  re- 
member that  when  He  died  He  said,  ''It  is  finished " ; 
and  the  vail  of  the  Temple  was  rent  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom,  to  show  that  Judaism  had  finished  its  God-given 
mission.  From  that  moment  He  became  not  a  Saviour  of 
Jews  only,  but  the  world's  Redeemer.  When  God  ratified 
the  new  covenant  with  the  blood  of  Calvary,  He  made  the 
first  covenant  old.  And  that  which  becometh  old  and 
Waxeth  aged  is  nigh  to  vanishing  away. 

But  surely  the  law  given  by  Moses  is  permanent  /  Did 
not  Jesus  of  Nazareth  assert  that  not  one  jot  or  tittle  should 
pass  away  until  all  was  fulfilled  ? 

Precisely.  But  surely  we  must  distinguish  between  the 
outward  and  inward,  the  ritual  and  ethical,  the  form  and 
the  substance  ?  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  sublime 
ceremonial  of  Leviticus,  which  was  imposed  for  a  special 
purpose,  can  be  of  the  same  binding  force  and  moment  as 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  PAUL'S  LIFE  109 

the  ten  words  of  the  Law  which  are  borne  witness  to  by 
the  conscience  of  all  men  ? 

Buf  if  you  do  away  with  the  restrictions  of  the  Law,  will 
you  not  loosen  all  moral  restraint,  and  lead  to  a  general  re- 
laxation of  all  bonds  in  the  family  and  the  State  ? 

There  is  no  fear  of  this,  the  stalwart  defenders  of  the 
simplicities  of  the  faith  answer  from  the  other  side.  Souls 
that  are  united  to  Jesus  Christ  by  faith  are  cleansed  by 
receiving  from  Him  tides  of  spiritual  life  and  health ;  so 
that  they  become  more  than  ever  pure,  and  holy,  and 
divine.  Do  we  then  make  the  law  of  none  effect  through 
faith?  God  forbid;  nay,  we  establish  the  law.  The 
righteousness  of  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not 
after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  The  law  of  the  Spirit 
of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  makes  us  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and 
death. 

III.  The  Appeal  to  Jerusalem. — The  disputing  and 
questioning,  however,  showed  no  signs  of  abating,  and  it 
was  finally  decided  that  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  certain 
others  with  them,  should  go  up  to  Jerusalem  to  consult  the 
apostles  and  elders  about  this  question. 

They  travelled  slowly  through  Phoenicia  and  Samaria, 
declaring  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  in  each  of  the 
little  Christian  communities  on  their  route,  until  they 
reached  Jerusalem,  where,  in  a  great  missionary  convoca- 
tion, specially  convened,  they  told  all  things  that  God  had 
done  with  them — that  is,  in  cooperation  and  fellowship 
with  them ;  as  though  by  blessing  them  the  living  Christ 
were  Himself  implicated  in  the  methods  they  had  adopted. 
But  their  statements  were  interrupted  by  the  uprising  of 
certain  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees  that  believed,  and  the 
heated  interjection  of  the  reiterated  statement,  *'It  is 
needful  to  circumcise  them,  and  to  keep  the  law  of  Moses." 


110  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Again  a  special  meeting  was  summoned  :  in  which  there 
was  much  questioning.  Then  Peter  arose,  and  said,  **  This 
matter  was  settled  in  my  judgment  by  God  Himself,  when 
in  the  house  of  Cornelius  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  on  un- 
circumcised  Gentiles,  as  on  us  at  the  beginning;  and  as 
He  made  no  distinction,  why  should  we?  " 

Next  Barnabas  and  Paul  repeated  their  wondrous  story, 
this  time  laying  emphasis  on  the  fact  that  they  were  only 
the  instruments  through  whom  God  wrought,  and  showed 
how  greatly  the  Gentiles  had  been  blessed,  and  were  being 
blessed,  altogether  apart  from  circumcision. 

Lastly,  James  summed  up  the  whole  debate  by  enumer- 
ating some  three  or  four  minor  points  on  which  he  thought 
it  well  to  insist,  for  the  right  ordering  of  the  young  com- 
munities; but  he  did  not  mention  circumcision  among 
them,  nor  insist  on  obedience  to  the  Mosaic  and  Levitical 
institutions.  To  his  sage  counsel  the  apostles  and  elders 
agreed. 

This  unanimity  between  the  leading  Apostles  and  the 
two  Evangelists,  who  were  the  cause  of  the  whole  con- 
troversy, was  probably  largely  due  to  the  private  interview 
which  Paul  had  sought  with  them,  and  which  most  com- 
mentators allocate  to  this  period  (Gal.  ii.  2).  He  tells  us 
that  he  went  up  by  revelation,  as  though,  in  addition  to 
the  request  of  the  Church,  there  were  strong  spiritual  pres- 
sure exerted  on  him ;  and  when  he  reached  Jerusalem  he 
laid  before  them  who  were  of  repute  the  Gospel  he  was 
preaching  among  the  Gentiles,  lest  he  were  running  in  vain. 
But  to  his  great  satisfaction  they  did  not  comment  adversely 
upon  his  statements,  nor  insist  upon  Titus,  a  young  Greek, 
being  circumcised ;  and  they  even  went  so  far  as  to  recog- 
nize that  the  Gospel  of  the  uncircumcision  had  been  en- 
trusted to  him,  giving  him  and  Barnabas  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship,  that  they  should  go  unto  the  Gentiles,  as  them- 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  PAULS  LIFE  111 

selves  unto  the  circumcision.  The  power  of  the  risen  Jesus 
was  so  mightily  in  his  servants,  that  there  was  no  gainsay- 
ing their  vocation. 

The  Pharisee  party  was  defeated,  and  a  decree  signed  in 
the  sense  of  James*  address ;  but  from  that  moment  a  re- 
lentless war  broke  out,  which  followed  the  Apostle  for  the 
next  ten  years  of  his  life,  and  cost  him  many  bitter  tears. 
Every  church  he  planted  was  visited  by  the  emissaries  of  his 
virulent  opponents,  who  were  not  content  with  insisting  on 
the  necessity  of  circumcision,  but  asserted  that  Paul  was 
no  Apostle,  because  he  had  only  seen  Christ  in  vision,  and 
had  never  companied  with  Him  during  the  days  of  his 
flesh.  They  traduced  his  personal  character,  misrepre- 
sented his  reluctance  to  take  the  gifts  of  his  converts,  dwelt 
with  cruel  animosity  upon  his  personal  defects,  and  in 
many  cases  succeeded  in  alienating  the  love  and  loyalty  of 
his  converts. 

This  cruel  persecution  is  constantly  alluded  to  in  the 
Epistles  to  the  Galatians  and  Corinthians,  and  cut  Paul 
to  the  quick.  However,  he  never  owned  himself  vanquished. 
By  prayers  and  tears,  by  arguments  and  persuasions,  by 
threatenings  and  expostulations,  the  heroic  lion-heart  fought 
the  good  fight  to  the  end ;  and,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
tone  of  his  later  epistles,  was  permitted  to  see  the  close  of 
the  controversy,  in  which  it  was  determined  once  for  all 
that  the  new-wine  Christianity  should  not  be  poured  into 
the  worn-out  bottle  skins  of  Judaism. 

If  the  conditions  of  justification  are  now  clearly  defined 
as  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  if  salvation  is  as  free  as  the  flowers  of  spring  or  the 
air  of  heaven ;  if  we  are  able  to  stand  fast  in  the  freedom 
with  which  Christ  has  made  us  free ;  if  we  may  preach  to 
all  and  any  that  those  who  believe  are  justified  from  all 
things — it  is  due  to  the  unflinching  courage  with  which  the 


112  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  Oh  JESUS  CHRIST 

great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  contended  for  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints,  and  which  led  him  on  one  occasion 
to  confront  even  the  Apostle  Peter  himself,  because  he  was 
to  be  blamed  (Gal.  ii.  ii). 


XII 
21  ttsson  of  ©mirancc 

(Acts  xvi.) 

«  Oh  let  Thy  sacred  will 

All  Thy  delight  in  me  fulfil! 
Let  me  not  think  an  action  mine  own  way, 

But  as  Thy  love  shall  sway, 
Resigning  up  the  rudder  to  Thy  skill." 

Herbert. 

AFTER  a  brief  respite,  Paul  proposed  to  Barnabas 
that  they  should  return  to  visit  the  brethren  in  every 
city  wherein  they  had  proclaimed  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
and  see  how  they  fared.  This  was  the  beginning  of  his 
second  missionary  journey,  which  was  to  have  far-reaching 
results. 

Barnabas  suggested  that  they  should  take  Mark  with 
them  as  before,  a  proposition  which  his  companion 
positively  refused  to  entertain.  Mark  had  deserted  them 
on  the  threshold  of  their  previous  expedition,  and  there 
was  grave  fear  that  he  might  do  so  again.  Barnabas  was 
as  strong  on  the  other  side.  Perhaps  he  felt  that  he  had 
some  rights  in  the  matter,  as  the  senior  in  age,  because 
of  the  tie  of  blood  between  himself  and  his  sister's  son. 
At  last  the  contention  reached  so  acute  a  stage  that  the 
Church  became  aware  of  it,  and  took  Paul's  side,  for  the 
narrative  of  the  Acts  tells  us  that  when  Paul  chose  Silas, 
and  went  forth,  * '  he  was  commended  by  the  brethren  to 
the  grace  of  the  Lord." 

113 


114  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Whenever  we  are  about  to  undertake  some  great  enter- 
prise for  God,  in  proportion  to  its  importance  we  may 
expect  to  encounter  the  strong  man  armed,  "straddling 
across  the  way."  How  often  he  attempts  to  overthrow 
us  through  the  temper  or  disposition  of  our  associates ! 
The  crew  mutinies  as  Columbus  neara  the  long-looked- 
for  coast  !  Nothing  tests  us  more  than  this.  It  is  difficult 
to  be  resolute  and  gentle,  strong  and  sweet.  Beware  of 
temptation  from  this  side,  fellow-workers.  If  you  are  com- 
pelled to  differ  from  your  companions,  let  it  be  in  love; 
let  them  feel  that  you  have  no  interests  to  serve  but 
those  of  truth.  If  Lot  quarrels  with  you,  it  is  best  to 
give  him  his  own  terms  and  send  him  away;  God  will 
give  you  ever  so  much  more  than  he  can  take.  Only  do 
nothing  to  drive  the  Holy  Dove  of  God  from  your  bosom. 
Perfect  love  is  the  only  atmosphere  in  which  the  Divine 
Spirit  can  manifest  his  gracious  help. 

^  :{:  ^  ;{£  sK  )|c  He 

Through  regions  rich  in  flowers  and  natural  beauty  Paul 
and  Silas  traversed  Syria  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the  infant 
churches,  which  probably  owed  their  existence  to  Paul's 
earliest  efforts.  So  through  the  Cilician  Gates  to  Tarsus, 
his  native  city.  But  there  was  no  welcome  for  him  there. 
Probably  the  old  home  was  either  broken  up  or  forever 
shut  against  him;  and  the  two  companions  in  travel 
threaded  the  defile  in  the  mountains  behind  Tarsus,  which 
led  them  up  to  the  central  plain  with  its  volcanic  deposits 
and  biting  winds.  After  some  days'  toilsome  journey  they 
came  to  Derbe,  Lystra,  and  Iconium,  so  tragically  associ- 
ated with  the  former  journey. 

What  a  welcome  Paul  would  receive!  How  many 
inquiries  would  be  made  after  Barnabas  !  How  much  to 
tell  and  hear !  There  was,  however,  a  special  burden  on 
the   Apostle's   heart.     On    the    occasion   of  his  previous 


^  LESSON  OF  GUIDANCE  115 

visit  his  attention  had  been  arrested  by  a  mere  lad,  who 
had  been  strongly  attracted  to  him,  watching  with  a  lad's 
enthusiastic  devotion  his  teaching,  conduct,  purpose,  faith, 
long-suffering,  love,  and  patience,  and  perhaps  mingling 
with  the  little  group  that  stood  around  him  when  he  sank 
beneath  the  stones  of  those  who  a  few  days  before  had 
offered  him  worship.  He  asked  for  Timothy,  and  was 
glad  to  learn  that  he  had  not  been  faithless  to  the  teach- 
ings and  training  of  the  godly  women  who  had  watched 
over  his  opening  character,  and  instructed  him  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  It  would  seem  that  the  whole  family  was  more 
or  less  closely  associated  with  the  infant  church  life ;  so 
much  so  that,  though  the  mother  was  a  Jewess,  she  had  not 
urged  her  son's  compliance  with  the  initial  Jewish  rite.  It 
had  therefore  remained  in  abeyance,  according  to  the  broad 
and  liberal  views  which  Paul  inculcated. 

All  the  reports  about  Timothy  were  favorable.  He  was 
well  reported  of  by  the  brethren  that  were  at  Lystra  and 
Iconium.  The  more  Paul  knew  of  him  the  more  he  was 
attracted  to  him,  and  finally  proposed  that  he  should  ac- 
company him  on  his  travels  as  his  own  son  in  the  faith. 
He  administered  the  rite  of  circumcision,  not  because  he 
deemed  it  obligatory,  but  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  that 
there  might  be  no  obstacle  to  the  admission  of  his  young 
assistant  to  Jewish  synagogues. 

A  simple  ordination  service  was  then  held,  in  which 
Timothy  was  solemnly  set  apart  for  his  great  work.  The 
elders  gathered  round  and  laid  their  hands  on  his  bowed 
head,  and  prayed.  In  answer  to  their  believing  inter- 
cession, he  received  the  gift  of  sacred  speech;  and  Paul, 
in  after  years,  reminds  him  to  stir  up  the  gift  that  was  in 
him  through  the  laying  on  of  his  own  hands  and  of  those 
of  the  presbytery. 

Thus  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  led   his  servant  to  call  new 


116  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

laborers  into  the  harvest  field  and  endow  them  with 
special  qualifications  for  their  work.  It  appears,  indeed, 
that  Paul  had  remarkable  power  in  these  directions ;  for,  in 
his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  he  expressly  refers  to  his  having 
ministered  to  them  the  Holy  Spirit  by  faith;  and  when  he 
laid  his  hands  on  the  twelve  disciples  at  Ephesus,  the 
Holy  Spirit  came  upon  them,  and  they  spake  with  tongues 
and  prophesied.  In  the  old  time  it  seems  to  have  been 
possible  for  men  of  God  to  receive  for  others,  and  trans- 
mit to  them,  by  faith,  spiritual  gifts,  adapting  them  better 
for  their  life  work.  But  this  was  altogether  distinct  from 
any  mechanical  communication  of  sacramental  grace,  and 
was  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  those  who  were  themselves 
richly  endued  with  the  Spirit  of  Jesus. 

■if.  -^  Tie.  if.  -ie.  ill  ip. 

Leaving  Lystra,  Paul  and  his  companions  visited  the 
churches  in  the  highland  region  of  Phrygia  and  Galatia, 
everywhere  distributing  the  letter  of  James.  They  next 
essayed  to  go  into  the  populous  and  influential  cities  of  Asia 
Minor,  such  as  Colossae,  Laodicsea,  and  Ephesus.  What 
could  they  do  better  than  bear  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to 
those  teeming  multitudes  who  sat  in  darkness  and  the 
shadow  of  death?  Yet  it  was  not  to  be :  "  They  were  for- 
bidden of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  speak  the  Word  in  Asia.'*  In 
after  years  Paul  would  do  some  of  the  greatest  work  of  his 
life  in  that  very  region  ;  but  just  now  the  door  was  closed 
against  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  time  was  not  yet  ripe 
for  the  attack  on  these  apparently  impregnable  bastions  of 
the  kingdom  of  Satan.  Apollos  must  come  there  for  pioneer 
work.  Paul  and  Barnabas  are  needed  yet  more  urgently 
elsewhere,  and  must  receive  further  training  before  under- 
taking this  responsible  and  arduous  task. 

The  travellers  therefore  took  a  northern  route,  with  the 
intention  of  entering  the  important  province  of  Bithynia, 


tA  LESSON  OF  GUIDANCE  117 

lying  along  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea;  but  when  they 
came  to  a  point  in  the  great  Roman  road,  opposite  Mysia, 
and  were  attempting  to  go  out  of  Asia  Minor  into  Bithynia, 
the  Spirit  of  Jesus  suffered  them  not. 

Checked  when  they  attempted  to  go  to  the  West,  they 
were  now  stopped  as  they  sought  to  go  to  the  Northeast ; 
and  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  keep  straight  on,  until 
they  came  out  at  the  terminus  of  the  road,  on  the  seacoast, 
at  the  famous  harbor  of  Troas,  the  ancient  Troy.  There 
they  met  with  Luke,  whose  presence  is  thenceforth  denoted 
by  the  significant  personal  pronoun  we;  and  thence  the 
man  of  Macedonia  beckoned  the  little  missionary  band 
across  the  straits  to  set  up  the  banner  of  Christ  on  the 
hitherto  untouched  continent  of  Europe. 

What  an  extremely  attractive  title  that  is  for  the  Holy 
Spirit !  He  is  preeminently  the  Spirit  of  Jesus.  When 
Jesus  was  glorified,  He  was  given  in  Pentecostal  fulness, 
and  the  chief  aim  of  his  mission  and  ministry  is  to  glorify 
the  Lord  Jesus  and  gather  together  the  members  of  his 
Body,  fitting  them  for  union  with  their  Head.  He  is  also 
the  Comforter  and  Guide  of  the  saints  until  the  Church  is 
presented  faultless  to  her  Lord ;  as  Eliezer  conducted  Re- 
bekah  to  his  master's  son. 

It  is  interesting  to  study  the  method  of  his  guidance  as  it 
was  extended  towards  these  early  heralds  of  the  Cross.  It 
consisted  largely  in  prohibitions,  when  they  attempted  to 
take  another  course  than  the  right.  When  they  would  turn 
to  the  left,  to  Asia,  He  stayed  them ;  and  when  they  sought 
to  turn  to  the  right,  to  Bithynia,  again  He  stayed  them. 
He  shut  all  the  doors  along  their  route,  and  bolted  them ; 
so  that  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  go  straight  forward. 
In  the  absence  of  any  prohibition,  they  were  left  to  gather 
that  they  were  treading  the  prepared  path  for  which  they 
had  been  created  in  Christ  Jesus. 


118  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Whenever  you  are  doubtful  as  to  your  course,  submit 
your  judgment  absolutely  to  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  ask  Him 
to  shut  against  you  every  door  but  the  right  one.  Say, 
*'  Blessed  Spirit,  I  cast  on  Thee  the  entire  responsibility  of 
closing  against  my  steps  any  and  every  course  which  is  not 
of  God.  Let  me  hear  thy  voice  behind  me  whenever  I  turn 
to  the  right  hand  or  the  left.  Put  thine  arrest  on  me.  Do 
not  suffer  me." 

In  the  meanwhile,  continue  along  the  path  which  you 
have  been  already  treading.  It  lies  in  front  of  you  ;  pursue 
it.  Abide  in  the  calling  in  which  you  were  called.  Keep 
on  as  you  are,  unless  you  are  clearly  told  to  do  something 
else.  Expect  to  have  as  clear  a  door  out  as  you  had  in ; 
and  if  there  is  no  indication  to  the  contrary,  consider  the 
absence  of  indication  to  be  the  indication  of  God's  will  that 
you  are  on  his  track. 

The  Spirit  of  Jesus  waits  to  be  to  you,  O  pilgrim,  what 
He  was  to  Paul.  Only  be  careful  to  obey  his  least  pro- 
hibitions ;  and  where,  after  believing  prayer,  there  are  no 
apparent  hindrances,  believe  that  you  are  on  the  way  ever- 
lasting, and  go  forward  with  enlarged  heart.  **  Teach  me 
to  do  thy  will,  for  Thou  art  my  God  :  thy  Spirit  is  good, 
lead  me  into  the  land  of  uprightness."  Do  not  be  surprised 
if  the  answer  comes  in  closed  doors.  But  when  doors 
are  shut  right  and  left,  an  open  road  is  sure  to  lead  to 
Troas.  There  Luke  awaits,  and  visions  will  point  the  way, 
where  vast  opportunities  stand  open,  and  faithful  friends  are 
waiting. 


xm 

"^t  JJljtlippiana" 

(Phil.  iv.  15.) 

"These  are  the  tones  to  brace  and  cheer 
The  lonely  watcher  of  the  fold, 
"When  nights  are  dark,  and  foemen  near. 
When  visions  fade,  and  hearts  are  cold. 

«« How  timely  then  a  comrade's  song 
Comes  floating  on  the  mountain  air. 
And  bids  thee  yet  be  bold  and  strong- 
Fancy  may  die,  but  Faith  is  there." 

Keble. 

FOR  a  busy,  footsore,  heart- weary  man,  misunderstood 
and  misrepresented,  pursued  by  many  anxieties  and 
cares,  there  must  be  some  place  where  the  heated  machinery 
can  cool,  and  the  soul  unbend  in  the  atmosphere  of  love 
and  on  the  couch  of  tender  sympathy.  Even  Jesus  needed 
a  Bethany.  It  is  well  when  this  is  found  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  Home ;  when  the  door  which  shuts  out  the  rush 
and  glare  of  life  shuts  us  in  to  love  and  sympathy,  and 
those  tender  ministries  which  are  the  peculiar  province  of 
a  woman's  life.  How  little  does  the  great  world  realize  the 
large  share  that  woman's  influence  has  had  in  nourishing 
the  patience  and  courage  of  its  noblest  heroes!  In  the 
privacy  of  the  domestic  life  will  be  found  those  tender 
hands  that  wash  the  stripes,  pour  in  the  oil,  and  enable  the 
soldier  again  to  take  the  field. 

To  many,  however,  of  the  world's  greatest  benefactors, 


120  PAUL:  ^  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

though  they  have  stood  in  profound  need  of  this  tender 
sympathy,  the  home  life  has  been  denied.  Theirs  has  been 
a  solitary  and  lonely  lot ;  partly  because  of  the  exigencies 
of  their  position,  and  partly  because  it  has  been  difficult  to 
find,  or  reveal  themselves  to,  a  kindred  soul.  This  was 
largely  the  case  with  Paul.  A  self-contained,  strong,  heroic 
soul,  he  resembles  the  lofty  mountains  of  his  native  Tarsus, 
whose  slopes  are  clad  with  rich  verdure  and  vegetation, 
while  their  summits  rear  themselves  in  steep  and  solitary 
majesty.  Few  have  been  dowered  with  a  tenderer,  warmer 
disposition.  The  minute  and  particular  greetings  with 
which  his  Epistles  close,  the  rain  of  hot  tears  in  parting 
from  his  friends,  his  anguish  of  mind  in  having  hurt  those 
whom  he  was  compelled  to  admonish  and  rebuke,  his  long- 
ing for  companionship — are  evidences  of  the  genuineness 
and  tenacity  of  his  affection.  But  it  was  his  appointed 
lot  to  have  no  settled  dwelling  place — no  spot  he  could  call 
Home. 

«*Yes,  without  cheer  of  sister  or  of  daughter; 
Yes,  without  stay  of  father  or  of  son ; 
Lone  on  the  land  and  homeless  on  the  water. 
Pass  I  in  patience  till  the  work  be  done." 

Yet  the  Apostle  had  marvellous  powers  of  attracting  men 
and  women  to  himself.  We  have  seen  how  he  threw  the 
mantle  of  his  magnetic  influence  over  Silas  and  Timothy ; 
and  the  Galatians  were  ready  to  give  him  their  eyes.  But 
he  was  now  to  win  a  group  of  friends  who  would  never 
cease  to  love  him  whilst  life  lasted;  whoever  else  was 
alienated  and  weary,  they  would  be  true ;  whatever  trouble 
threatened  to  engulf  him,  it  would  only  elicit  their  more 
profuse  ministrations ;  and  Philippi  was  to  become  to  him 
the  one  bright  sunny  spot  in  all  the  earth,  more  than 
Tarsus  which  had   disowned   him,  more  than  Jerusalem 


«y£  PHIUPPIANS"  121 

which  would  cast  him  out,  and  next  to  the  "  far  better"  of 
Paradise. 

«  Hearts  I  have  won  of  sister  or  of  brother. 
Quick  on  the  earth  or  hidden  in  the  sod. 
Lo,  every  heart  awaiteth  me,  another 
Friend  in  the  blameless  family  of  God." 

Luke. — The  beloved  physician  seems  to  have  met  him 
first  at  Troas.  This  could  hardly  have  been  by  pre- 
arrangement,  as  the  Apostle  found  himself,  so  to  speak, 
forced  to  take  his  journey  to  that  ancient  seaport,  famous 
for  its  traditional  interest  as  the  scene  of  the  Siege  of  Troy, 
and  thriving  on  its  mercantile  relations  with  East  and  West. 
All  the  northern  provinces  of  Asia  Minor  sent  their  produce 
thither  for  shipment  to  Macedonia  and  Greece,  and  there 
the  merchants  of  the  West,  men  of  Macedonia,  would  bring 
their  freights  in  exchange.  It  is  conjectured  that  Luke, 
himself  a  native  of  Philippi,  had  followed  in  the  wake  of 
commerce  to  pursue  his  profession  as  a  physician  to  his 
countrymen.  Paul's  temporary  sojourn  in  the  crowded 
ghetto  may  have  induced  a  return  of  the  acute  disease  from 
which  he  had  suffered  in  Galatia,  or  he  may  have  been  laid 
low  by  malarial  fever,  to  deal  with  which  the  nearest  avail- 
able physician  was  summoned,  and  this  was  Luke.  In  any 
case  here  the  two  men  met ;  and  here  in  all  likelihood  the 
servant  of  God  won  his  medical  attendant  for  the  Saviour. 
In  the  enthusiasm  of  an  ardent  attachment  the  new  disciple 
elected  to  become  his  fellow-traveller,  so  as  to  be  able  at  all 
times  to  minister  to  the  much-suffering  and  frail  tenement 
of  his  friend's  dauntless  and  vehement  spirit. 

He  is  immediately  taken  into  the  closest  confidence; 
forms  one  of  the  little  group  to  whom  one  morning  Paul 
tells  of  the  vision  of  the  man  of  Macedonia ;  helps  to  formu- 
late the  conclusion,  in  which  Silas  and  Timothy  and  he 


122  PAUL:  Jl  SERVAm  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

agreed,  that  the  Apostle's  path  lay  across  the  blue  waters 
of  the  ^Egean,  dancing  and  sparkling  in  the  morning  light; 
goes  forth  to  seek  a  passage  in  one  of  the  many  craft  that 
lay  at  the  wharves ;  and  records  with  manifest  love  of  the 
sea  and  knowledge  of  the  land  the  successive  stages  of  their 
voyage  and  journey  to  Philippi. 

How  dear  he  became  to  the  Apostle,  and  how  tenaciously 
he  clung  to  his  charge,  is  clear  from  two  expressions  penned, 
the  one  from  the  hired  house  of  the  first  Roman  imprison- 
ment, the  other  from  the  chill  prison  cell  of  the  second. 
**  Luke,  the  beloved  physician  "  ;  «<  only  Luke  is  with  me  " 
(Col.  iv.  14;  2  Tim.  iv.  11). 

Lydia. — She  was  probably  a  widow;  a  woman  of  con- 
siderable business  capacity,  with  energy  enough  to  leave  her 
native  city  of  Thyatira,  and  cross  the  sea  to  establish  her- 
self in  Philippi  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  the  purple-dyed  gar- 
ments for  which  her  native  town  was  famous.  The  word 
indicates  that  she  disposed  of  the  finest  class  of  wares ;  and 
she  must  have  possessed  a  considerable  amount  of  capital  to 
be  able  to  deal  in  such  expensive  articles.  She  was  withal 
an  eager  seeker  after  God.  The  Jewish  community  at 
Philippi,  being  too  small  and  poor  to  have  a  synagogue  of 
its  own,  was  obliged  to  meet  by  the  riverside  in  an  en- 
closure or  garden  screened  from  public  observation.  But 
thither  she  repaired  as  the  Sabbath  came  round,  with  mem- 
bers of  her  household,  listening  to  the  Jewish  Scriptures, 
and  seeking  after  God,  if  haply  she  might  find  Him,  not 
realizing  that  He  was  not  far  from  every  one  of  them. 

On  one  memorable  Sabbath,  when  only  women  were 
present,  four  strangers,  Jews,  appeared  in  the  little  circle, 
**sat  down,  and  spake  unto  the  women  that  were  come  to- 
gether." This  was  the  first  Gospel  sermon  in  Europe. 
And  it  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  it  was  addressed  to 


«y£  PHILIPPIANS"  123 

a  handful  of  women  in  the  open  air.  Lydia  was  the  first 
of  a  great  succession  of  holy  women,  who  have  welcomed 
the  Lord  Jesus  as  their  Sovereign  and  Spouse.  And  the 
open  air  has  been  the  scene  of  the  greatest  victories  of  the 
Cross. 

The  result  of  that  morning  service  was  Lydia' s  conver- 
sion ;  whether  she  received  the  Apostle's  message  of  the 
crucified  and  living  Lord  at  once  or  gradually,  is  not  clear 
— most  likely  her  heart  opened  as  a  flower  to  the  sun  ;  but 
the  result  was  that  she,  with  her  entire  household,  came 
over  to  believe  in  Jesus,  whom  Paul  preached,  and  she  felt 
as  sure  about  her  own  conversion  as  she  was  eager  for  Paul 
to  come  and  abide  in  her  house  :  "  If  ye  have  judged  me 
to  be  faithful  unto  the  Lord,  come  into  my  house  and  abide 
there."  It  was  a  blessed  change,  which  led  to  far-reaching 
consequences  in  her  own  life,  and  in  Paul's. 

She  must  have  been  a  woman  of  considerable  determina- 
tion and  perseverance,  to  have  overcome  Paul's  reluctance 
to  be  dependent  on  any  of  his  converts.  *'What  is  my 
reward  then?"  he  asks  on  one  occasion.  "That,  when 
I  preach  the  Gospel,  I  may  make  the  Gospel  without 
charge.  ...  It  were  good  for  me  rather  to  die,  than  that 
any  man  should  make  my  glorying  void."  He  would  bear 
anything  rather  than  risk  the  imputation  of  the  suspicion 
that  he  was  making  profit  out  of  the  Gospel.  Rather  than 
this  he  wrought  day  and  night,  that  he  might  be  chargeable 
to  none ;  and  with  his  own  hands  ministered  unto  his  own 
necessities  and  to  those  that  were  with  him.  But  Lydia 
was  able  to  override  all  his  objections — "She  constrained 
us,"  is  Luke's  reflection  as  he  reviews  the  scene.  So  the 
four  companions  in  travel  found  asylum  and  entertainment 
in  her  hospitable  home. 

How  much  this  large-hearted  and  resolute  woman  did  in 
after  days,  it  is  impossible  now  to  decipher  from  the  record 


124  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

of  the  past.  We  know  of  four  separate  occasions  in  which 
the  Philippian  Church  sent  supplies  to  their  beloved  founder 
and  teacher  (2  Cor.  xi.  9;  Phil.  iv.  10-18).  And  this  was 
very  probably  due  to  Lydia's  foresight  and  generosity.  No 
other  church  performed  so  large  a  ministry,  because  no 
other  church  could  perform  it.  As  Paul  intimates,  they 
were  for  the  most  part  in  deep  poverty.  And  it  is  probable 
that  the  Philippians  would  have  been  as  paralyzed  as  the 
rest  had  it  not  been  for  Lydia  and  her  household,  who 
throve  on  the  proceeds  of  their  trade.  It  has  even  been 
surmised  that  Paul  owed  much  of  the  comfort  of  after  days, 
when  he  spent  two  years  in  the  Palace  of  Caesarea  waiting 
for  his  trial,  and  two  more  years  in  his  hired  house  at  Rome, 
to  the  same  source ;  and  it  may  have  been  some  inkling  of 
the  well-to-do  friend  who  held  Paul  dear,  that  induced 
Felix  to  keep  him  in  bonds. 

A  statement  gained  credence  in  the  early  church  that 
Paul  and  Lydia  were  wed,  but  there  is  no  foundation  what- 
ever for  this  in  Scripture ;  and  the  probabilities  against  it 
are  overwhelming.  The  whole  argument  of  i  Cor.  vii.  and 
ix.  may  be  adduced  to  show  that  the  stories  of  Lydia  and 
Thekla  are  alike  inadmissible.  We  are  rather  inclined, 
therefore,  to  think  of  Lydia  as  a  noble,  true-hearted,  and 
devoted  friend  of  the  Apostle,  who  counted  it  her  privilege 
as  well  as  her  joy  that  he  should  reap  temporal  benefits  in 
return  for  the  spiritual  blessings  which  he  had  so  richly 
sown  in  her  heart ;  and  her  reward  will  be  one  day  to  hear 
from  the  Master's  lips  that  in  making  the  burdens  of  his 
servant  lighter  she  had  been  ministering  to  Himself,  and 
that  having  received  an  Apostle  in  the  name  of  an  Apostle, 
she  must  have  an  Apostle's  reward. 

Minor  Characters  are  cast  on  the  canvas,  drawn 
from  life,  and  filling  up  the  picture.     The  hysterical  girl. 


**YE  PHILIPPIANS"  125 

demon  possessed,  who  marked  and  followed  the  evangelists, 
designating  them  slaves  of  the  Most  High  God,  who  pro- 
claimed the  way  of  salvation.  The  syndicate  of  owners 
who  fattened  on  the  proceeds  of  her  divination,  as  she 
showed  miners  where  to  find  the  gold,  girls  the  day  to 
wed,  merchants  the  period  to  set  forth  their  ventures; 
and  who  were  correspondingly  chagrined  when  Paul's 
challenge  to  the  spirit  emancipated  his  wretched  victim 
and  ended  their  hopes  of  further  gain.  The  Roman 
magistrates,  who  strangely  forgot  the  high  traditions  of 
their  office,  were  swept  off  their  feet  by  the  urgency  of 
the  rabble,  and,  without  going  through  even  the  formality 
of  a  trial,  tore  the  clothes  off  the  backs  of  the  accused 
with  their  own  hands,  and  laid  **  many  stripes  upon  them," 
uncondemned,  being  Romans.  Looking  back  on  the  way 
these  petty  officials  treated  him,  Paul  recalls  how  much 
he  suffered  and  how  shamefully  he  was  entreated  (i  Thess. 
ii.  2).  There  was  also  Silas,  who  well  justified  Paul's 
choice  of  him,  for  he  showed  himself  well  able  to  bear 
shame  and  suffering  for  Jesus.  It  was  good  that  Mark  was 
not  there  !  How  would  he  have  stood  it  ?  But  from  these 
our  thought  turns  to  the  third  principal  actor  in  this  scene, 
the  story  of  whose  conversion  has  shed  the  light  of  un- 
speakable comfort  into  myriads  of  broken  hearts. 

The  Jailer — A  rough,  coarse  man,  probably !  What 
else  could  be  expected  from  one  who  had  spent  his  early 
days  in  the  Roman  army,  and  his  later  ones  amid  the 
hardening  and  brutalizing  experiences  of  a  provincial 
Roman  prison  ?  When  superiors  did  not  scruple  to  act  in 
defiance  of  law  and  decency,  their  subordinate  could  hardly 
be  expected  to  be  too  particular.  Barbarous  usage  would 
certainly  be  meted  out  by  his  hands  to  the  two  Jews,  about 
whom  he  had  received  the  significant  hint  that  he  was  to 


126  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

keep  them  safely.  The  inner  prison  was  a  dark  under- 
ground hole  beneath  his  house  (Acts  xvi.  34,  r.  v.)  ;  into 
this  he  thrust  them ;  they  would  probably  lie  extended  on 
the  bare  damp  ground,  their  bleeding  backs  in  contact 
with  the  soil,  and  their  legs  stretched  to  such  an  extent  by 
the  stocks  as  to  almost  dislocate  their  hips. 

By  midnight  the  two  prisoners  became  so  happy  that 
they  could  no  longer  contain  themselves,  and  began  to 
sing,  chanting  the  grand  old  Hebrew  Psalms,  and  in  the 
intervals  praying.  No  doubt  they  were  in  the  best  of 
company,  and  found  their  souls  overflowing  with  exuberant 
joy.  **  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul;  and  all  that  is  within 
me,  bless  his  holy  name."  It  was  an  unwonted  sound  to 
the  prisoners  who  stood  or  lay  around  in  the  pitch  dark, 
their  chains  stapled  to  the  walls — not  one  of  them  thought 
of  sleep;   *'  the  prisoners,"  we  are  told,  '*  were  listening." 

An  earthquake  broke  in  on  the  singing,  the  doors  flew 
open,  and  the  staples  left  their  places.  The  jailer  being 
roused  from  sleep  came  into  the  prison  yard,  and  found 
the  doors  open.  As  Paul  and  Silas  caught  sight  of  him 
standing  against  the  glimmering  starlight,  to  their  horror 
they  saw  him  draw  his  sword  and  prepare  to  kill  himself 
rather  than  face  an  ignominious  death  for  his  infidelity 
to  his  charge.  With  a  loud  voice  Paul  arrested  and  reas- 
sured him ;  then  the  call  for  the  light,  the  springing  into 
the  cell,  the  trembling  limbs,  the  courtesy  that  led  them 
out,  the  inquiry  for  salvation,  the  answer  of  peace,  the 
motley  midnight  audience  which  gathered  around  the  two 
servants  of  God,  the  loving  tendance  of  their  wounds,  the 
baptism,  the  hastily  prepared  food,  the  glad  rejoicing  of  the 
transformed  believer  and  of  all  his  believing  house.  One 
event  crowding  on  the  heels  of  another,  and  making  a  swift 
glad  series  of  golden  links  which  bound  the  jailer  ever 
after  to  his  Saviour  and  to  Paul, 


«r£  PHILIPPIANS"  127 

He  doubtless  became  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Philippian  Church,  a  community  of  singular  purity  and 
loveliness,  to  whom  the  Apostle  wrote  his  tenderest  words 
without  a  syllable  of  rebuke.  He  could  only  thank  God 
upon  every  remembrance  of  them,  and  in  every  suppli- 
cation for  them  made  request  with  joy.  They  were 
beloved  and  longed  for,  his  joy  and  crown.  He  longed 
after  them  all  in  the  tender  mercies  of  Christ  Jesus. 
They  were  his  Bethany,  his  Zarephath,  his  Well  of 
Bethlehem. 


XIV 

Itam  Jpi)Uippi  to  ^Itljena 

(Acts  xvii.,  xviii.) 

"Whoso  hath  felt  the  Spirit  of  the  Highest 

Cannot  confound  nor  doubt  Him,  nor  deny : 
Yea,  with  one  voice,  O  world,  tho'  thou  deniest, 
Stand  thou  on  that  side,  for  on  this  am  I." 

F.  W.  H.  Myers. 

LEAVING  Luke  at  Philippi,  Paul  and  his  companions 
travelled  through  Amphipolis  and  Apollonia  to 
Thessalonica,  a  name  which  lives  forever  in  the  inscrip- 
tions of  his  two  earliest  epistles.  The  modern  town  is 
known  as  Saloniki.  It  may  be  that  Paul  was  specially  at- 
tracted to  this  city  because  of  the  synagogue  and  a  weekly 
Jewish  service  there,  in  which  he  could  prosecute  his 
favorite  work  of  opening  and  alleging  from  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures  that  the  Messiah  must  suffer,  and  that  He  had 
appeared  in  the  person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  He  did  this 
for  three  Sabbath  days,  maintaining  himself  and  his  friends 
by  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  and  lodging  with  one  Jason, 
who  afterwards  became  a  devoted  disciple  and  follower 
(Romans  xvi.  21). 

At  the  end  of  that  period  the  strong  feeling  raised  among 
the  Jews  made  it  unwise  to  continue  in  the  synagogue :  he 
therefore  removed  his  conferences  to  some  neutral  ground. 
How  long  he  remained  there  we  cannot  tell ;  but  it  must 
have  been  long  enough  to  give  time  for  the  formation  of 
a  healthy  and  vigorous  church,  towards  which  the  Apostle 

128 


FROM  PHIUPPI  TO  ATHENS  129 

bore  himself  with  the  gentleness  of  a  nurse,  and  the  en- 
couragement of  a  father.  There  was  something  about 
these  Macedonian  converts  which  was  immensely  attractive 
to  him.  In  after  days  he  speaks  of  them  as  his  joy  and 
crown ;  and  says  that  he  was  so  affectionately  desirous  for 
their  growth  in  grace,  that  he  would  gladly  have  sacrificed 
his  own  life  to  promote  it.  They  were  very  poor,  and  he 
wrought  day  and  night  with  his  own  hands,  even  to  travail, 
that  he  might  not  be  burdensome  to  them ;  but  they  were 
rich  in  faith,  and  love,  and  hope  (i  Thess.  ii.  6,  7,  11,  19). 

More  than  in  other  cases,  his  teaching  led  them  to  antic- 
ipate the  Advent  of  the  Lord.  The  pressure  of  the  anguish 
that  lay  sore  upon  them  all  may  have  made  them  peculiarly 
susceptible  to  those  radiant  visions  of  the  Lord's  return  that 
filled  the  Apostle's  thought.  They  even  outran  his  teach- 
ing, and  fell  into  the  error  of  supposing  that  that  day  had 
already  come — an  error  which  the  Apostle  by  a  second 
epistle  hastened  to  correct.  It  was  a  great  joy,  however, 
to  that  harassed  heart  to  realize  that,  amid  the  furious  op- 
position of  man,  God  was  working  with  him,  and  accom- 
panying his  words  with  the  demonstration  of  his  Spirit.  He 
recalls,  with  lively  satisfaction,  that  the  Gospel  came  to  them 
in  power  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  so  that  they  became  en- 
samples  to  all  that  believed  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  and 
the  Word  of  God  sounded  forth  from  them  in  clarion  notes 
(i  Thess.  iv. ;   2  Thess.  ii.). 

Some  months  must  have  been  occupied  in  this  blessed 
ministry;  and  the  strain  on  the  Apostle  was  evidently 
greatly  lessened  by  the  gifts  which  came  from  Philippi,  re- 
lieving him  from  the  necessity  of  manual  toil  (Phil.  iv.  16). 

At  last,  however,  Thessalonica  was  closed  against  them. 
Paul  and  Silas  were  compelled  to  flee  by  night  before  the 
anger  of  the  populace,  incited  by  the  Jews.  The  accusa- 
tion laid  against  them  was  a  strange  one,  considering  the 


130  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

quarter  from  which  it  emanated.  It  was  suspicious  that 
Jews  should  be  so  eager  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  the  other 
King,  one  Jesus.  But  *'any  stick  will  do  to  beat  a  dog 
with  ";  and  the  Jews  were  not  scrupulous  about  the  means 
they  employed,  if  only  they  could  rid  themselves  of  their 
powerful  rival,  who  was  probably  thinning  the  crowd  of 
Gentile  devotees  that  gathered  in  their  synagogue. 

Fifty  miles  of  night  journey  brought  them  to  BERiEA ;  and 
there  for  a  brief  space  they  had  respite,  as  the  Jews  were  less 
bigoted,  and  more  willing  to  search  the  Scriptures,  to  dis- 
cover for  themselves  the  reasonableness  or  otherwise  of  Paul's 
views.  But  his  heart  yearned  for  the  beloved  brethren  whona 
he  had  left  to  stem  the  strong  tide  of  hatred  which  his  teach- 
ing had  evoked ;  and  more  than  once  he  would  have  re- 
turned had  it  not  been  for  the  fear  of  implicating  Jason  and 
others,  who  appear  to  have  been  bound  over  to  prevent  him 
from  setting  his  foot  again  in  Thessalonica.  This  was  in 
his  mind  when  he  said  Satan  hindered  him  (i  Thess.  ii.  i8). 

The  project  of  Paul's  return  to  Thessalonica  was,  how- 
ever, rendered  quite  impossible  by  the  rising  of  another 
storm,  caused  by  Jewish  emissaries  from  that  city,  who  pur- 
sued his  steps  with  relentless  hate.  There  was  at  last  no 
help  for  it  but  to  leave  Silas  and  Timothy  in  Beraea,  to  see 
what  further  could  be  done  to  keep  the  pathway  to  the  rear 
open,  and  to  hurry  down  to  the  harbor  to  take  the  first  boat 
that  was  sailing.  This  happened  to  be  for  Athens.  Those 
that  conducted  him  hurried  him  on  board,  and  we  can  im- 
agine him  standing  on  deck,  and  watching  wistfully  the  re- 
ceding heights  of  Mount  Olympus  slowly  fading  from  view : 
behind f  the  dearest,  truest  friends  he  had  ever  known ;  be- 
fore, what? 

Athens. — The  messengers  hastened  back  to  Bersea,  bear- 


FROM  PHILIPPI  TO  ATHENS  131 

ing  the  charge  of  the  lonely  Lion-heart,  that  Silas  and  Tim- 
othy should  come  to  him  with  all  speed.  While  he  waited 
for  them  and  hoped  they  would  assure  him  that  he  might 
return  to  the  infant  communities  he  had  founded,  he  passed 
through  the  streets  of  Athens,  surveying  the  monuments  of 
their  religion.  On  every  side  were  the  achievements  of 
human  genius.  Temples  which  a  Phidias  had  designed; 
statues  which  a  Praxiteles  had  wrought.  But  Greece  was 
living  Greece  no  more.  Her  political  glory  had  passed 
away  a  century  and  a  half  before,  when  she  had  fallen  be- 
fore Rome's  all-subduing  might.  She  prided  herself  still 
on  her  heroic  traditions,  and  her  custodianship  of  the  great- 
est monuments  of  that  or  any  epoch  of  human  history.  But 
it  was  the  afterglow  of  sunset. 

It  is  not  clear  that  the  heart  of  the  Apostle  was  stirred 
with  classic  memories  or  artistic  appreciation.  To  him  the 
city  was  simply  full  of  idols ;  and  the  innumerable  multi- 
tudes suggested  the  confused  notions  that  prevailed  of  the 
unity  and  majesty  of  the  Deity.  He  was  greatly  moved ; 
and,  not  content  with  reasoning  in  the  synagogue  with  the 
Jews  and  proselytes,  he  went  forth  every  day  into  the 
market  place  to  reason  with  whomsoever  he  met,  urging  all 
and  sundry  to  turn  from  these  vanities  to  worship  the  only 
God.  It  was  his  constant  aim  to  be  all  things  to  all  men ; 
and  at  Athens  he  gave  a  conspicuous  exhibition  of  his  mar- 
vellous versatility.  No  ordinary  Jew  could  have  entered  so 
thoroughly  into  the  spirit  of  the  place  as  the  great  Apostle 
did,  or  have  excited  sufficient  interest  among  his  philoso- 
phers to  justify  them  calling  a  special  assembly  of  the  coun- 
cil of  the  Areopagus  to  hear  a  full  statement  of  the  new 
teaching  he  brought  to  their  ears.  The  evangelist  indicates 
that  the  opinions  formed  about  Paul  were  diverse  and  not 
entirely  complimentary.  Some  compared  him  to  a  bird 
picking  up  seeds,  others  to  a  seeker  after  novelty ;  and  per- 


132  PAUL:  ^  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

haps  there  was  more  of  hostility  than  friendliness  in  their 
taking  hold  of  him  and  bringing  him  before  their  highest 
religious  tribunal. 

It  was  the  greatest  audience  Paul  had  ever  addressed. 
Before  him  philosophers,  pedants,  lecturers,  and  students, 
accustomed  to  discuss  the  loftiest  themes  within  the  horizon 
of  human  thought,  and  to  make  distinctions  to  which  the 
delicate  refinement  of  the  Greek  language  lent  itself  with 
marvellous  subtlety.  Epicureans  were  there  to  taste  the 
flow  of  words,  or  criticise  the  style,  the  choice  of  images, 
the  harmony  of  balanced  sentences.  Stoics,  to  study  the 
theory  of  life,  which  this  new  theorizer,  as  he  appeared, 
professed.  For  the  whole  crowd  of  Athenians  and  resident 
strangers  were  interested  only  in  saying  or  hearing  some- 
thing new. 

The  address  Paul  gave  on  that  occasion  is  quite  unique. 
For  its  grace,  intellectual  sequence,  grandeur  of  conception 
and  range,  stately  march  of  eloquent  words,  it  stands  alone 
among  the  addresses  recorded  for  us  by  the  evangelist.  It 
was  probably  the  result  of  deep  thought  and  prayer,  or  Paul 
had  not  so  carefully  passed  it  on  to  Luke,  who  was  not  then 
with  him.  It  reveals  the  opulence  of  the  Apostle's  intel- 
lect and  power  of  ready  sympathy,  which  enabled  him  to 
adapt  himself  so  easily  to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. 
We  can  only  notice  the  contrasts  between  himself  and  his 
audience,  that  reveal  themselves  in  almost  every  sentence. 
To  them  it  was  a  new  sensation,  a  shift  in  the  kaleidoscope 
of  religious  thought ;  to  him  it  was  a  matter  of  tremendous 
urgency,  his  spirit  was  pressed  and  provoked  within  him. 
They  confessed  their  ignorance  of  the  Unknown  God,  who 
lay  behind  the  world  and  all  things  therein  ;  Paul  withdrew 
the  vail  and  declared  Him  unto  them.  They  supposed  that 
the  temples  around  were  not  unworthy  of  the  Divine  abode ; 
he  told  them,  as  he  remembered  Stephen  to  have  said  years 


FROM  PHIUPPI  TO  ATHENS  133 

before,  that  nothing  less  than  heaven's  infinite  dome  could 
befit  his  supernal  majesty,  and  that  even  this  could  not  con- 
tain Him.  They  thought  to  propitiate  the  Deity  with  gifts; 
he  insisted  that  He  needed  nothing  at  men's  hands,  and 
that  their  blessedness  consisted  in  giving,  not  goats  and 
calves,  but  broken  hearts,  contrite  spirits,  and  empty,  out- 
stretched hands.  They  taught  a  dreary  kind  of  Pantheism, 
as  though  God  were  no  longer  distinct  from  the  matter  of  the 
world  ;  he  said  that  He  was  a  Person,  a  Father  to  be  sought 
after,  as  well  as  the  atmosphere  in  which  they  lived,  and 
moved,  and  had  their  being.  It  did  not  seem  unbecoming 
for  them  to  fashion  the  similitude  of  the  Godhead  in  gold, 
and  silver,  and  stone,  graven  by  art  and  man's  device;  but 
he  insisted  that  He  was  a  Spirit,  to  be  worshipped  in  spirit 
and  in  truth.  Some  held  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  as 
Socrates  had  proclaimed  it  on  that  very  spot,  but  they  had 
no  idea  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body ;  he,  however,  un- 
hesitatingly affirmed  that  spirit  would  mate  again  with  body, 
not  only  that  there  would  be  a  literal  resurrection,  but  that 
there  had  been  one,  and  that  a  day  was  coming  in  which 
God  would  judge  the  world  by  the  Man  who  died  in  mortal 
weakness,  but  whom  He  had  raised  from  the  dead. 

At  this  mention  of  the  resurrection,  many  in  his  audi- 
ence began  to  mock.  The  Greek  found  the  perfect  fruition 
and  glory  of  life  in  the  present,  and  had  no  idea  of  a  future 
which  should  involve  the  reanimation  of  the  body.  So 
Paul  departed  from  among  them  with  comparatively  small 
results.  Dionysius,  a  member  of  the  august  tribunal  before 
which  he  had  stood  ;  a  woman,  Damaris,  who  was  probably 
the  result  of  his  more  general  work  in  the  city ;  and  a  few 
others,  clave  unto  him,  and  believed.  The  Gospel  at- 
tracted the  simple-minded  merchants  and  artisans  of  Mace- 
donia more  readily  than  the  educated  literati  of  Athens. 

So  far  as  we  know  the  Apostle  never  visited  Athens  again. 


134  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

He  went  sadly  on  his  way  to  Corinth,  his  heart  filled  with  a 
tumult  of  thoughts,  anxiety  for  the  infant  churches  behind 
him,  yearning  to  see  Timothy  and  Luke,  questioning  what 
reception  he  might  receive  amid  the  cultured  and  eloquent 
Corinthians ;  but  more  than  ever  determined  not  to  know 
anything  among  them  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified, 
while  steadfastly  abjuring  all  attempts  at  wisdom  or  grace  of 
speech,  lest  the  Cross  of  Christ  should  be  made  void. 


XV 
••In  tDmkne00  anir  Jcav** 

(I  Corinthians  ii.  3.) 

**  Ay,  for  this  Paul,  a  scorn  and  a  despising, 

Weak  as  you  know  him,  and  the  wretch  you  see,— 
Even  in  these  eyes  shall  ye  behold  him  rising, 
Strength  in  infirmities  and  Christ  in  me." 

F.  W.  H.  Myers. 

FIVE  hours'  sail  across  the  Saronic  Bay  brought  the 
Apostle  to  Cenchrea,  the  port  of  Corinth  to  the  east ; 
for  this  great  and  busy  city  commanded  two  waterways. 
Through  her  western  port,  Lechaeum,  she  was  in  communi- 
cation with  the  Adriatic ;  and  through  her  eastern  port, 
Cenchrea,  with  the  -^gean.  The  wares  of  the  East  thus 
passed  through  her  to  supply  the  omnivorous  appetite  of  the 
metropolis,  and  vast  crowds  were  attracted  to  her  precincts 
for  the  purposes  of  trade.  This  commanding  position  thus 
gave  her  a  quite  unusual  importance  in  the  eye  of  the  Apos- 
tle, ever  eager  to  seize  on  any  advantage  which  he  could 
use  for  the  Gospel  of  his  Lord.  To  establish  a  strong 
Christian  church  there  would  be  to  cast  seeds  of  Christian 
teaching  on  waters  that  would  bear  them  east  and  west. 
Christian  missionaries  should  be  strategists,  expending  their 
strength  where  populations  teem  and  rivers  of  world-wide 
influence  have  their  rise. 

But  the  Apostle  entered  the  proud  and  beautiful  city  **in 
weakness,  and  fear,  and  much  trembling."  He  could  not 
forget  the  frigid  contempt  which  he  had  encountered  at 

'35 


136  PAUL :  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Athens,  and  which  was  harder  to  bear  than  violent  opposi- 
tion. He  may  have  been  suffering  from  some  aggravation 
of  his  habitual  trouble,  without  Luke's  presence  to  treat  it ; 
and  he  was  profoundly  conscious  of  being  deficient  in  those 
gifts  of  learning  and  eloquence  on  which  the  Corinthians 
set  such  store.  He  knew  that  his  speech  and  his  preaching 
could  never  be  in  persuasive  words  of  human  wisdom,  and 
it  was  his  fixed  determination  to  know  nothing  among  them 
but  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified. 

There  were  many  other  difficulties  to  be  encountered, 
which  made  his  ministry  in  Corinth  the  more  difficult,  and 
his  consequent  success  the  more  conspicuous. 

I.  The  Necessity  for  Continual  Manual  Toil. — In 
his  first  Epistle  to  Corinth,  he  lays  great  emphasis  on  this. 
Always  maintaining  the  right  of  those  who  preached  the 
Gospel  to  live  by  the  Gospel,  he  did  not  use  it ;  but  suffered 
all  things  rather  than  hinder  its  progress  or  influence.  No 
chance  should  be  given  to  the  merchants  and  traders  that 
thronged  the  city  from  all  parts,  prepared  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing for  purposes  of  gain,  to  allege  that  he  was  actuated  by 
mercenary  motives.  He,  therefore,  resumed  his  trade  of 
tent  making,  and  was  thankful  to  come  across  two  Christian 
Jews  who  had  been  flung  on  this  shore  by  the  decree  of  the 
Emperor,  which  expelled  all  Jews  from  Rome.  Suetonius, 
the  historian,  tells  us  that  this  decree  was  due  to  tumults 
caused  by  one  Chrestus,  evidently  referring  to  violent  dis- 
putes in  the  Jewish  community  concerning  the  claims  of 
Jesus  to  be  the  long-expected  Messiah.  With  them,  there- 
fore, he  abode  and  wrought,  for  they  were  of  the  same 
craft;  and  a  friendship  sprang  up  between  him  and  Aquila, 
with  his  wife  Priscilla,  which  was  destined  to  have  an  im- 
portant bearing  on  the  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  metrop- 
olis from  which  they  had  come,  and  in  Ephesus,  to  which 


''IN  IVEAKNESS  AND  FEAR''  137 

they  would  accompany  their  newly-made  friend.  Perhaps 
Paul  was  in  their  employ ;  but  in  any  case  work  was  short 
and  wages  scant,  so  that  he  was  not  unfrequently  in  actual 
want  (2  Cor.  xi.  9;   i  Cor.  iv.  11,  12). 

How  strange  that  the  movement  which  was  to  give 
Corinth  a  greater  fame  than  her  games,  or  architecture,  or 
eloquence,  emanated  from  a  poor  shop  in  the  Jewish  ghetto, 
where  a  handful  of  fugitive  Jews  wrought  at  their  trade, 
speaking  amid  their  toils  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  had 
been  crucified  in  weakness,  but  was  living  through  the 
power  of  God.  They  also  were  weak  with  Him ;  but  they 
were  destined  to  live  and  reign  with  Him,  over  the  hearts 
of  men,  through  the  power  of  God. 

II.  The  Virulent  Hatred  of  the  Jews. — According 
to  his  usual  practice,  Paul  betook  himself  every  Sabbath  to 
the  synagogue,  and  reasoned,  persuading  the  Jews  and 
.Greek  proselytes  that  the  conception  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures was  precisely  that  of  a  suffering  and  crucified  Messiah. 
This  went  on  for  some  weeks ;  but  the  measure  of  his  labors 
was  somewhat  curtailed  by  the  heavy  drain  of  his  daily  toil. 
It  was  not  till  Timothy  and  Silas  arrived,  the  one  from 
Thessalonica,  and  the  other  from  Bersea,  bringing  cheering 
news  of  the  steadfastness  of  his  converts,  their  hands  full  of 
generous  benefactions,  that  he  was  able  to  give  himself  with 
more  leisure  and  intensity  to  the  cherished  object  of  his 
life.  "  He  was  pressed  in  the  spirit,  and  testified  to  the 
Jews  that  Jesus  was  Christ  "  (Acts  xviii.  5). 

This  was  more  than  the  influential  men  of  the  Jewish 
community  could  bear;  they  opposed,  blasphemed,  and 
drove  him  from  the  synagogue.  Their  attitude  was  more 
than  usually  virulent.  They  were  unreasonable  and  wicked ; 
they  were  animated  by  the  spirit  which  had  led  their  nation 
to  kill  the  Lord  Jesus  and  the  prophets ;  they  pleased  not 


138  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

God,  and  were  contrary  to  all  men ;  they  were  filling  up 
the  measure  of  their  sins  (i  Thess.  ii.  14-16;  2  Thess. 
iii.  2). 

Their  hatred  culminated  when  the  Apostle  gladly  ac- 
cepted the  offer  of  a  God-fearing  proselyte,  Titus  Justus, 
whose  house  was  close  to  the  synagogue,  to  hold  meetings 
there.  This  new  move  was  attended  with  instant  and  re- 
markable success.  Among  those  that  migrated  with  the 
Apostle  from  the  synagogue  was  Crispus,  its  chief  ruler, 
who  believed  in  the  Lord  with  all  his  house.  Many  of  the 
people  of  Corinth,  also,  heard,  believed,  and  were  baptized. 
As  the  new  meetinghouse  became  more  crowded,  and  the 
movement  increased  in  numbers  and  influence,  the  Jews  be- 
came more  and  more  exasperated,  and  at  last  rose  in  a  body, 
seized  Paul,  and  dragged  him  before  the  Roman  Governor, 
who  happened  to  be  Gallio,  brother  to  Seneca,  the  famous 
philosopher,  and  Nero's  tutor.  He  was  a  man  of  unusual 
culture  and  refinement,  sweetness,  and  loveableness.  He 
represented  the  broad  and  liberal  views  of  educated  Ro- 
mans, of  the  policy  that  Rome  should  exercise  towards  the 
various  religions  of  the  provinces ;  and  when  he  discovered 
that  the  charge  against  Paul  was  of  no  imperial  importance 
and  had  to  do  indeed  not  with  facts,  or  civil  wrong  or  moral 
outrage,  but  with  words,  and  names,  and  Jewish  law,  he 
would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  it  or  them,  but  bade 
his  lictors  drive  them  from  the  judgment  seat. 

The  Greeks  were  only  too  glad  that  contempt  should  be 
heaped  on  the  hated  Jews,  and  took  the  opportunity  of  seiz- 
ing Sosthenes,  the  new  chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue — who  had 
succeeded  to  the  post  vacated  by  Crispus — and  beating  him 
in  the  very  presence  of  the  Proconsul.  He  regarded  their 
horse  play,  however,  with  perfect  indifference.  What  did 
it  matter  if  a  Jew  got  a  few  stripes  more  or  less  ?  No  doubt 
they  were  richly  merited ;  and  so  long  as  there  was  no  pub- 


«/A^  IVEAKNESS  AND  FEAR''  139 

lie  disturbance,  the  castigation  might  serve  a  useful  purpose 
in  cautioning  the  Jews  against  bringing  their  matters  into 
public  notice  or  trespassing  on  the  public  patience. 

But  the  incident  must  have  greatly  aggravated  the  hatred 
of  the  Jews  against  the  Apostle  and  his  converts ;  the  more 
so  when,  as  it  would  appear,  Sosthenes  himself  became  a 
convert,  and  so  intimately  associated  with  the  Apostle  as  to 
be  coupled  in  after  years  with  himself  in  the  inscription 
of  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians — **  Sosthenes  our 
brother." 

III.  The  Character  of  his  Converts. — Corinth  has 
been  compared  to  Paris  for  its  vice ;  to  Newmarket  for  the 
preponderance  of  the  sporting  interest ;  to  Chicago  for  the 
mixture  of  its  population ;  to  Vanity  Fair  for  its  frivolity 
and  lightness.  Thither  gathered  the  scum  of  the  world. 
Soldiers  and  sailors,  slaves  and  prostitutes,  jockeys  and 
chariot  drivers,  athletes  and  wrestlers;  Romans  with  their 
imperial  bearing ;  Greeks  with  their  regular  features ;  Jews 
with  their  unmistakable  badge ;  Scythians  from  the  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea ;  men  of  Mesopotamia,  Pontus,  Egypt  and 
Asia  Minor — all  bent  on  business  or  amusement,  and  daubed 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent  with  the  exceeding  evil  of  this 
grossly  impure  city.  The  Temple  of  Venus,  with  its  thou- 
sand priestesses,  legalized  vice ;  the  Isthmian  Games,  held 
once  in  three  years,  established  betting  and  gambling ;  the 
motley  character  of  the  population  encouraged  a  wild  ad- 
mixture of  thought  and  opinion,  for  which  there  was  no 
recognized  standard  or  court  of  appeal. 

To  such  a  city  Paul  opened  his  message,  encouraged  by 
the  assurance  of  the  Lord  that  He  had  much  people  there. 
How  often  to  his  tried  and  persecuted  servants  does  the 
Master  come  as  He  came  to  the  Apostle  !  They  may  be 
conscious  of  weakness  and  much  fear,  may  speak  his  word 


140  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

in  trembling,  may  be  derided  as  a  spectacle  and  laughing- 
stock, may  be  encompassed  with  toil  and  pain  and  per- 
secution ;  but  He  stands  beside  in  a  vision,  and  says :  ''Be 
not  afraid,  but  speak,  and  hold  not  thy  peace  :  for  I  am 
with  thee,  and  no  man  shall  S€t  on  thee  to  hurt  thee. 
They  may  gather  themselves  against  thee,  but  not  by  Me. 
Whosoever  shall  gather  against  thee  shall  fall  for  thy  sake. 
No  weapon  that  is  formed  against  thee  shall  prosper ;  and 
every  tongue  that  shall  rise  in  judgment  against  thee  thou 
shalt  condemn." 

With  this  encouragement  in  his  heart,  Paul  labored  for 
a  year  and  six  months  in  this  gay  and  sinful  city,  with 
marvellous  success.  It  is  true  that  not  many  of  the  wise, 
or  mighty,  or  noble  of  this  world,  were  among  the  chosen 
ones;  they  who  were  accounted  as  weak,  and  base,  and 
contemptible,  by  the  high-bred  leaders  of  Corinthian  society 
were  selected  as  the  foundation  stones  of  the  newly-gathered 
church.  There  might  be  a  Crispus  and  Gaius,  a  Stephanas 
and  his  household,  all  of  whom,  contrary  to  his  usual  prac- 
tice, the  Apostle  baptized  before  Timothy  and  Silas  arrived  ; 
but  these  were  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  Perhaps 
women  preponderated  in  the  young  community,  as  the 
Apostle  devotes  so  much  space  in  his  Epistle  to  regulating 
their  behavior.  We  know,  at  least,  of  Phoebe,  the  deacon- 
ess of  the  church  at  Cenchrea,  who  bore  his  epistle  to 
Rome;  and  of  Chloe,  whose  household  slaves  were  the 
medium  of  intelligence  when  Paul  was  at  Ephesus. 

The  majority  of  his  converts,  however,  were  of  the  low- 
est caste,  and  of  those  who  had  been  deeply  stained  with 
the  vices  that  made  Corinth  notorious.  The  city  was  the 
resort  of  fornicators,  idolaters,  adulterers,  effeminates, 
thieves,  covetous,  drunkards,  revilers,  and  extortioners,  and 
such  had  they  been ;  but  under  the  preaching  of  the  Cross, 
in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  a  marvellous  change  had 


«/A/  JVEAKNESS  AND  FEAR''  141 

passed  over  them — they  had  become  washed,  sanctified,  and 
justified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  in  the  Spirit  of 
our  God.  Jesus  had  become  their  wisdom,  righteousness, 
sanctification,  and  redemption.  Delivered  from  the  power 
of  darkness,  they  had  become  children  of  the  light  and  of 
the  day :  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  the  Son  of 
his  love. 

What  a  contrast  between  that  little  Church  and  the 
great  heathen  world  out  of  which  it  had  been  chosen  !  We 
may  imagine  one  of  its  meetings  towards  the  close  of  the 
Apostle's  visit.  It  is  a  Sabbath  evening.  Outside,  the 
streets  are  full  of  pleasure  seekers  and  revellers.  Groups  of 
idlers  are  discussing  the  last  chariot  race,  or  staking  their 
money  on  an  approaching  boxing  match.  The  varied  cos- 
tumes, vivid  gestures,  handsome  equipages,  the  mimes  and 
plays,  the  processions  and  shows,  compose  a  never-palling 
picture  of  movement  and  color.  But  within  the  little 
meeting  place  all  is  hushed  and  still.  Paul  is  speaking  of 
things  which  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the 
heart  of  man  conceived  ;  or  the  men  in  turn  are  contrib- 
uting to  the  edification  of  the  rest,  with  a  psalm,  or  a  teach- 
ing, or  a  revelation,  or  the  interpretation  of  an  unknown 
tongue;  while  the  women,  modestly  veiled,  listen  in 
silence.  Now  the  love  feast  is  being  partaken  of,  each 
bringing  some  contribution  of  victuals  to  the  common 
store ;  and  presently  the  Lord's  Supper  will  conclude  the 
evening  engagements,  partaken  of  according  to  the  method 
delivered  to  the  Apostle  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Himself  (i  Cor. 
xi.  and  xii.). 

This  was  a  marvellous  sequel  to  his  timid  and  unadorned 
entrance  among  them.  But  it  is  evident  that  the  Apostle 
was  far  from  satisfied.  He  complained  that  he  could  not 
speak  unto  them  as  unto  spiritual ;  but  as  unto  carnal,  as 
unto   babes  in  Christ ;    that  he  was  obliged  to  feed  them 


142  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

with  milk,  and  not  with  meat.  He,  doubtless,  detected  the 
first  working  of  that  unhallowed  leaven  which  was  after- 
ward to  break  out  in  such  fearful  ferment.  Even  before 
he  left  there  were  probably  manifestations  of  party  spirit,  of 
the  appraising  of  gift  above  grace,  of  the  mistaking  license 
for  liberty,  of  the  undue  prominence  of  women  in  public 
assemblies,  of  greed  in  the  love  feasts,  confusion  in  the 
ministrations,  and  heresy  in  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 
It  must  have  been,  therefore,  with  no  small  misgiving  that 
he  tore  himself  away  at  the  close  of  his  protracted  sojourn, 
leaving  the  infant  community  to  the  tendance  of  God  with 
much  of  the  same  solicitude  with  which  Jochebed  launched 
the  cradle  ark  on  the  tawny  waters  of  the  Nile. 

But  though  he  left  the  city,  it  produced  an  ineffaceable 
effect  upon  his  methods  of  thought  and  expression.  It  was 
there  that  he  came  under  the  influence  of  those  imperial 
conceptions  which  were  embodied  in  Rome,  the  undisputed 
mistress  of  the  world.  There  he  wrote  his  first  two  epistles, 
those  to  the  Thessalonians.  There,  also,  he  was  compelled 
to  study  the  intimate  questions  connected  with  the  formation 
and  government  of  churches  so  heterogeneously  constituted ; 
and  there  he  reached  the  final  form  of  stating  the  Gospel. 
Years  afterward  we  find  him  alluding  to  the  mingling  of 
gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones,  with  wood,  hay,  and 
stubble,  in  the  construction  of  temples  and  other  buildings ; 
or  comparing  the  body  to  a  temple ;  or  drawing  illustra- 
tions from  the  boxing  match  and  the  arena,  the  triumphal 
procession  and  the  theatrical  representation.  It  seemed 
as  though  his  speech  were  dyed  with  the  coloring  borrowed 
from  the  spectacles  with  which  he  had  grown  so  familiar 
in  the  streets  of  Corinth. 

At  last,  however,  he  resolved  to  leave  Corinth.  Many 
reasons  prompted  this  step,  and  amongst  them  the  desire  to 
proceed  to  Jerusalem  to  ascertain  the  feeling  of  the  mother 


''IN  IVE/IKNESS  AND  FEAR''  143 

Church.  Still  further  to  conciliate  the  conservative  ele- 
ment there,  he  had  bound  himself  in  the  vow  of  a  Nazarite, 
and  was  anxious  to  perform  the  concluding  ceremonial 
within  the  Temple.  He  was  obliged  to  have  his  head 
shorn  at  Cenchrea,  because  the  month  had  expired ;  but  he 
carried  the  hair  with  him  to  be  burned  on  the  great  altar 
within  the  Temple  court.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  probably- 
thought  that  Ephesus  would  be  a  better  mart  for  their  wares 
than  Corinth,  so  they  sailed  with  him.  And  thus  the  first 
memorable  missionary  tour  in  Greece  came  to  an  end,  and 
for  the  fourth  time  since  his  conversion  the  Apostle  ap- 
proached the  city  which  was  doubly  dear  to  him — memories 
of  his  Lord  being  now  entwined  with  the  sacred  associa- 
tions of  David,  Solomon,  Hezekiah,  and  Ezra. 


XVI 

Movt  ti)an  a  (JTonqtieror 

(Romans  viii.  36,  37.) 

**  Servant  of  God,  well  done  !     Well  hast  thou  fought 
The  better  fight,  who  single  hast  maintained 
Against  revolted  multitudes  the  cause 
Of  Truth — in  word  mightier  than  they  in  arms." 

Milton. 

THESE  are  among  the  greatest  words  ever  spoken  by 
man,  and  are  the  more  remarkable  when  we  consider 
them  as  gathering  up  and  recapitulating  the  experiences 
which  immediately  preceded  their  utterance. 

It  was  towards  the  close  of  Paul's  third  missionary 
journey.  About  three  years  before,  he  had  left  the  Syrian 
Antioch  for  the  third  time,  after  a  sojourn  of  some  duration 
(Acts  xviii.  23).  His  eager  spirit  could  not  rest  amid  the 
comparative  comfort  and  ease  of  the  vigorous  church  life 
which  was  establishing  itself  there,  but  yearned  with  tender 
solicitude  over  his  converts  throughout  the  region  of  Galatia 
and  Phrygia.  He  therefore  again  passed  the  Cilician 
Gates,  traversed  the  bleak  tablelands  of  the  upper  or  high- 
land country,  stablishing  all  the  disciples,  and  working  to- 
wards the  Roman  province  of  Asia.  This  lay  to  the  south- 
west, on  the  seaboard.  He  had  been  previously  forbidden 
to  enter  it  (xvi.  6) ;  but  his  steps  were  now  as  clearly  led 
to  it  as  they  had  formerly  been  restrained.  Thus  does  our 
Sovereign  Lord  withhold  his  servants  from  the  immediate 
fulfilment  of  their  dreams,  that  they  may  return   to  them 

144 


MORE   THAN  Jl  CONQUEROR  145 

again  when  the  time  is  ripe,  and  they,  too,  are  more  thor- 
oughly equipped.  The  experiences  of  Paul  in  Greece  were 
of  the  utmost  possible  service  in  fitting  him  for  his  ministry 
in  this  thickly-populated  and  highly-civilized  district ; 
which  resulted  in  a  work  of  evangelization  throughout  the 
neighborhood,  and  in  the  ultimate  formation  of  those  seven 
churches,  to  which  the  risen  Lord  addressed  his  final 
messages. 

It  was  to  redeem  a  pledge  he  had  solemnly  made  that 
the  Apostle  at  last  came  down  to  Ephesus.  He  had  spent 
one  Sabbath  day  there  previously,  on  his  way  from  Corinth 
to  Jerusalem.  On  that  occasion  his  ministrations  had  so 
deeply  interested  the  Jews,  that  they  had  urged  him  to 
abide  for  a  longer  period ;  but  this  being  impossible,  on 
account  of  the  necessity  of  hastening  to  Jerusalem  to  fulfil 
his  vow,  when  taking  his  leave  of  them  he  said,  **  I  will 
return  again  unto  you,  if  the  Lord  will."  It  was  in  fulfil- 
ment of  that  promise  that  the  Apostle  now  visited  the  me- 
tropolis of  Asia  the  Less. 

A  good  deal  had  happened  in  the  interval,  in  narrating 
which  the  evangelist  probably  gives  us  the  clue  to  the 
former  prohibition  of  the  Apostle's  visit.  Apollos,  the 
eloquent  Alexandrian,  had  visited  the  city,  had  met  there 
Paul's  friends,  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  who  were  awaiting 
their  fellow-worker's  return.  By  them  he  had  been  led 
into  a  clear  appreciation  of  the  truth,  in  consequence  of 
which  his  ministry  had  become  more  fruitful,  both  in  help- 
ing them  which  had  believed,  and  powerfully  confuting  the 
Jews.  The  strong  ploughshare  had  turned  up  the  heavy 
clods,  and  prepared  the  soil  for  Paul's  further  labors  (xviii. 
24-28). 

But  Apollos  had  now  left  for  Corinth,  and  Paul  arrived 
to  take  up  and  extend  the  work  so  auspiciously  begun.  He 
probably  but  dimly  realized  as  he  entered  Ephesus  how 


146  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

long  he  would  remain,  or  the  far-reaching  resuUs  of  his 
residence.  It  was  enough  for  him  to  reaUze,  as  he  after- 
wards wrote  to  the  Ephesian  converts,  that  there  was  a  pre- 
pared path  awaiting  him;  but  whether  it  should  be  smooth 
or  rough  was  known  only  to  Him  whose  he  was  and  whom 
he  served. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  a  conflict  from  first  to  last. 
'*I  fought  with  beasts  at  Ephesus,"  was  his  comment  after 
it  was  all  over.  And  here,  again,  in  enumerating  his 
experiences,  he  compares  them  to  a  battlefield  and  himself 
to  a  combatant,  crying — "  We  are  killed  all  the  day  long; 
we  are  accounted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter;  but  in  all 
these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that 
loved  us."  In  these  words,  written  to  Rome  from  Corinth, 
after  the  close  of  his  work  at  Ephesus,  and  whilst  his  ex- 
periences there  were  yet  fresh  to  his  thought,  he  gives  his 
own  conception  of  the  entire  situation. 

I.  The  Battlefield. — There  were  several  difficulties 
to  be  encountered,  which  must  be  taken  into  account  if  we 
would  estimate  the  greatness  of  the  victory  achieved  through 
the  grace  of  the  living  Saviour. 

In  the  first  place  there  was  the  pressure  of  the  strange, 
eager  mass  of  human  beings,  whose  interests,  aims,  and 
methods  of  thought  were  so  foreign  to  his  own.  No  one 
has  stood  alone  in  the  midst  of  Benares,  surrounded  by 
that  vast  heathen  population,  worshipping  on  the  banks  of 
the  brown  and  muddy  Ganges,  or  ascending  the  thousand 
stairs  of  the  marble  temples  which  extend  along  the  river- 
side, without  a  sense  of  loneliness  and  isolation.  In  the 
proximity  of  the  great  river,  among  those  mighty  and 
ancient  pyramids  of  stone,  beneath  those  facades  and 
colonnades  in  which  swarms  the  infinite  life  of  India,  how 
insignificant  the  life  of  the  individual  on-looker  appears  1 


MORE   THAN  Jl  CONQUEROR  147 

What  is  he  in  the  presence  of  that  teeming  mass !  How 
can  he  hope  to  affect  its  habits  of  thought  and  life — he 
might  as  well  attempt  to  divert  the  course  of  the  ancient 
stream.  Did  not  Paul  feel  thus,  as  he  spent  his  first  weeks 
at  Ephesus  ? 

But,  besides,  there  was  the  vast  system  of  organized 
idolatry  which  centred  in  the  temple  of  Diana.  Her  image 
was  said  to  have  fallen  from  Jupiter  (possibly  a  meteorite), 
and  it  was  enshrined  in  a  temple,  counted  to  be  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world.  The  magnificence  of  uncalculated 
wealth,  the  masterpieces  of  human  art,  the  fame  of  splendid 
ceremonials,  the  lavish  gifts  of  emperors  and  kings,  the 
attendance  and  service  of  thousands  of  priests  and  priest- 
esses, combined  to  give  it  an  unrivalled  eminence  of  influ- 
ence and  prestige.  Sooner  might  some  humble  Protestant 
missionary  working  in  a  back  street  of  Rome  expect  to  dim 
the  magnificence  of  St.  Peter's,  or  diminish  the  attendance 
of  its  vast  congregations,  as  Paul  hope  that  his  residence 
in  Ephesus  could  have  any  effect  whatever  on  the  worship 
of  Diana.  Moreover,  all  the  world  knew  that  the  city  of 
the  Ephesians  was  temple  keeper  of  the  great  Diana,  and 
of  the  image  which  fell  down  from  Jupiter  (xix.  35),  and 
therefore  keen  to  avenge  the  least  slight. 

In  connection  with  the  temple  there  throve  a  great  trade 
in  amulets  and  charms.  Each  individual  in  the  vast  crowds 
that  came  up  to  worship  at  the  shrine  was  eager  to  carry 
back  some  memento  of  his  visit,  and  the  more  so  if  the 
keepsake  would  serve  as  a  preservative  against  evil  omens 
and  spirits,  of  which  there  was  a  great  and  constant  dread. 
The  trade  in  these  articles  must  have  been  a  large  one,  or 
the  artificers  in  silver  would  not  have  been  numerous 
enough  to  fill  the  city  with  confusion,  and  to  necessitate 
the  niterference  of  the  town  clerk.  What  the  trade  in 
strong  drink  is  among  ourselves,  that  was  the  business  in 


148  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

these  miniature  shrines  manufactured  by  Demetrius  and  his 
fellow-craftsmen.  How  impossible  it  seemed  that  one  man, 
in  three  years,  employing  only  moral  and  spiritual  weap- 
ons, could  make  any  difference  to  this  ancient  and  extensive 
craft ! 

But  still  further,  like  many  of  the  cities  of  the  time,  filled 
with  motley  populations — part  Oriental  and  part  Greek — 
Ephesus  was  deeply  infected  with  the  black  arts  of  the  ex- 
orcist, the  magician,  and  the  professor  of  cabalistic  mys- 
teries. The  renegade  Jews  were  foremost  adepts  in  such 
matters,  calling  mystic  names  over  any  who  were  possessed 
of  evil  spirits.  Even  the  converts  to  Christianity  found  it 
hard  to  divest  themselves  of  their  former  association  with 
these  practices,  and  treasured  their  books  to  the  amount  of 
at  least  ^^2,000.  It  is  no  child's  play  to  turn  a  nation  of 
savages  from  their  confidence  in  witchcraft  and  medicine 
men  to  sane  views  of  life  and  Divine  Providence  ;  but  how 
much  harder  to  neutralize  such  insidious  poison  as  wrought 
through  a  great  city  like  Ephesus  !  The  people  fixed  the 
days  of  marriage  and  journeying,  the  engagements  they 
should  make,  and  the  business  transactions  on  which  they 
should  enter,  after  an  appeal  to  the  soothsayers  and  magi- 
cians ;  and  it  was  a  formidable  task  to  combat  their  rooted 
prejudices  and  habits. 

But  perhaps  Paul's  most  inveterate  foe  was  the  Jewish 
synagogue,  entrenched  in  ancient  prejudices  and  persistent 
disbelief.  They  were  hardened  and  disobedient,  speaking 
evil  of  **  the  Way  "  before  the  multitude.  He  also  recalls, 
in  his  farewell  address  to  the  Ephesian  elders,  the  trials 
which  befell  him  by  the  plots  of  the  Jews.  When  the  great 
riot  broke  out,  they  were  only  too  glad  to  show  their  hatred 
of  the  Christians  by  putting  forward  Alexander  to  disavow 
all  connection  with  them. 

Such  were  the  giant  obstacles  that  confronted  the  humble 


MORE   THAN  Jl  CONQUEROR  149 

tent  maker,  as  he  settled  down  to  his  trade  in  company  with 
Aquila  and  Priscilla.  But  he  looked  far  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  workshop  to  great  victories  for  his  Lord,  much  as 
Carey,  who  wrought  at  his  cobbling  with  a  map  of  the  world 
in  front  of  him.  But  greater  was  He  that  was  for  him  than 
all  that  were  against  him,  and  in  all  these  things  he  was 
destined  to  be  more  than  a  conqueror,  through  Him  that 
had  loved  him. 

Let  us  Verify  this  Assertion. — Let  us  turn  to  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  ask  if  Paul  were  indeed  more  than 
conqueror.  The  answer  is  unmistakable.  After  three 
months'  conflict  with  the  Jews  in  their  synagogue,  the 
Apostle  was  driven  to  the  course  he  was  wont  to  adopt 
under  similar  circumstances — he  moved  his  disciples  to  the 
schoolhouse  of  one  Tyrannus,  and  taught  there  daily,  as 
soon  as  noon  was  past,  and  a  pause  put  alike  on  the  labors 
of  the  schoolmaster  and  the  artisan.  In  consequence  of 
these  ministrations,  "all  they  which  dwelt  in  Asia  heard 
the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  both  Jews  and  Greeks" — a 
very  strong  statement,  when  we  bear  in  mind  the  populous- 
ness  of  that  crowded  province.  Even  the  silversmiths  who 
caused  the  riot  acknowledged  that  not  only  at  Ephesus,  but 
almost  throughout  all  Asia,  Paul  had  persuaded  and  turned 
away  much  people ;  and  there  was  great  danger  that  the 
temple  would  be  depleted  of  its  worshippers,  and  Diana  de- 
posed from  her  magnificence. 

With  respect  to  the  trade  in  amulets  and  charms,  it  fell 
off  so  seriously  that  the  craftsmen  realized  that  unless  they 
bestirred  themselves  their  gains  would  be  at  an  end. 

With  respect  to  the  strongly-entrenched  position  of  the 
magicians  and  exorcists,  they  were  utterly  baffled  and  con- 
founded by  the  much  greater  miracles  which  were  wrought 
through  Paul ;  so  much  so  that  the  handkerchiefs  he  used 


150  PAUL:  J{  SERVAl^T  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

to  wipe  the  sweat  from  his  brow  and  the  aprons  in  which  he 
wrought  at  his  trade,  were  made  the  medium  of  healing 
virtue  as  they  were  carried  from  his  person  to  the  sick  and 
demon  possessed.  So  mighty  was  the  impression  that  Christ 
had  secrets  superior  to  the  best  contained  in  their  ancient 
books,  that  many  of  them  that  had  believed  came,  confess- 
ing, and  declaring  their  deeds.  And  not  a  few  of  those 
who  practised  magical  arts  brought  their  books  together 
in  one  of  the  open  squares  and  burned  them  in  the  sight 
of  all.  So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  pre- 
vailed. 

With  respect  to  the  exorcist  Jews,  they,  too,  were  silenced. 
It  would  appear  that  the  name  of  Jesus,  spoken  even  by 
those  that  did  not  believe  in  Him,  had  a  potency  over  evil 
spirits  such  as  no  ofher  name  exerted ;  and  it  had  been 
blasphemously  used  by  strolling  Jews,  who  had  taken  upon 
themselves  to  call  that  sweet  and  holy  name  over  some  that 
were  possessed.  But  in  one  notable  instance  the  demon 
himself  had  remonstrated,  crying,  '*  Jesus  I  know,  and 
Paul  I  know ;  but  who  are  ye  ?  "  and  he  had  leaped  on  them, 
and  mastered  them,  so  that  they  fled  from  the  house  naked 
and  wounded. 

Let  us  Consider  the  Talisman  of  Victory. — If  we 
turn  from  his  outward  life  to  study  the  diary  of  this  wonder- 
ful man,  who  seemed  single  handed  in  his  conflicts  and 
victories,  we  find  a  pathetic  record  of  his  sorrows  and  trials. 
Writing  during  these  eventful  months,  he  speaks  of  himself 
as  a  man  doomed  to  death  and  made  a  spectacle  to  the 
world ;  for  Christ's  sake,  a  fool,  weak,  and  dishonored ; 
sufi*ering  hunger  and  thirst,  when  work  was  scant  and  ill 
paid;  having  no  certain  dwelling  place,  because  unable  to 
hold  a  situation  long  together  through  the  plotting  of  his 
foes;  hated,  buffeted,  reviled,  persecuted,  defamed;  made 


MORE   THAN  Ji  CONQUEROR  151 

as  the  filth  of  the  world,  and  the  offscouring  ©rail  things 
(i  Cor.  iv.  9-13). 

When  he  tells  the  story  of  the  affliction  which  befell  him 
during  his  residence  in  Asia,  he  says  that  he  was  weighed 
down  exceedingly  beyond  his  power,  insomuch  that  he 
despaired  even  of  life;  that  he  was  pressed  on  every  side, 
perplexed,  pursued,  smitten  down,  groaning  in  the  taber- 
nacle of  his  body,  and  always  bearing  about  the  dying  of 
the  Lord  Jesus.  In  addition  to  all  these  things  that  were 
without,  there  pressed  on  him  daily  the  care  of  all  the 
churches.  There  was  also  his  anxiety  about  individuals,  as 
he  ceased  not  to  admonish  every  one  of  them  night  and  day 
with  tears  (2  Cor.  i.  8  ;  iv.  8 ;  xi.  27,  28). 

There  is  nothing  more  pathetic  in  the  records  of  human 
suffering  and  patience  than  the  story  of  his  Ephesian 
experiences,  as  he  summed  them  up  on  the  shores  of 
Miletus,  in  his  parting  address  to  the  elders  of  the  church. 
In  this  passage  also  he  quotes  the  old  words  of  the  Psalmist, 
about  being  killed  all  the  day  long,  and  counted  as  fit  for 
the  slaughter;  and  enumerates  tribulation,  anguish,  perse- 
cution, famine,  nakedness,  peril,  sword,  as  ingredients  in 
his  cup.  Added  to  this,  there  was  the  constant  suffering 
caused  by  the  stake  in  the  flesh.  As  the  result  of  it  all  we 
wonder  how  such  a  man,  under  such  drawbacks  and  in  face 
of  such  opposing  forces,  could  be  more  than  a  conqueror. 
Evidently  we  are  driven  to  seek  the  source  of  his  victory 
outside  himself.  It  was  through  Him  that  loved.  He  not 
only  overcame,  but  he  was  more  than  an  overcomer;  he 
overcame  with  ease  ;  he  brought  off  the  spoils  of  victory — 
and  this  because  he  was  in  daily  communication  with  One 
who  had  loved,  did  love,  and  would  love  him,  world  with- 
out end  ;  and  who  was  ever  pouring  reinforcements  into  his 
soul,  as  men  will  pour  fresh  oxygen  air  to  their  comrade 
who  is  groping  for  pearls  in  the  depth  of  the  sea. 


152  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

The  only  matter  about  which  the  Apostle,  therefore,  felt 
any  anxiety  was  whether  anything  could  occur  to  cut  him 
off  from  the  living,  loving  Lord.  "  Can  anything  separate 
me  from  the  love  of  Christ  ?  " — that  was  the  only  question 
worth  consideration. 

Taking  the  extreme  conditions  of  Being,  he  carefully 
investigates  them,  knowing  that  they  include  all  between. 
First  he  interrogates  the  extremes  of  existence,  *' death  and 
life  "  ;  next,  the  extremes  of  created  intelligences,  **  angels 
and  principalities  and  powers  "  ;  next,  the  extremes  of  time, 
"things  present  and  things  to  come";  next,  the  extremes 
of  space,  **  height  and  depth  "  ;  lastly,  the  extremes  of  the 
created  universe,  *'any  other  creature." 

Each  of  these  extremes  has  thus  passed  in  review,  and 
he  has  eagerly  peered  into  its  depths.  He  is  like  a  man 
proving  every  link  of  the  chain  on  which  he  is  going  to 
swing  out  over  the  abyss.  Carefully  and  fervently  he  has 
tested  all,  and  is  satisfied  that  none  of  them  can  cut  him 
off  from  the  love  of  God ;  and  since  that  is  so,  he  is  sure 
that  nothing  can  ever  intercept  those  supplies  of  the  life 
and  strength  of  God  that  shall  avail  to  make  him  more 
than  a  conqueror. 

We  strangely  misjudge  the  love  of  God.  We  think  that 
our  distresses  and  sufferings,  our  sins  and  failures,  may 
make  Him  love  us  less,  whereas  they  will  draw  Him  nearer, 
and  make  his  love  exert  itself  more  evidently  and  tenderly. 
In  the  home,  it  is  not  the  troop  of  sturdy  children  that  so 
engross  the  mother's  care,  as  the  puny  withered  life  that  has 
lain  in  the  cot  for  the  last  eleven  years,  unable  to  help 
itself  and  reciprocate  her  love.  And  in  the  world,  death 
and  pain,  disease  and  sorrow,  failure  and  sin,  only  draw 
God  nearer,  if  that  be  possible.  So  far  from  separating 
from  his  love,  they  bind  us  closer. 

Oh,  blessed  love  that  comes  down  to  us  from  the  heart 


MORE   THAN  ^  CONQUEROR  15a 

of  Jesus,  the  essence  of  the  eternal  love  of  God  dwelling 
there  and  coming  through  Jesus  to  us — nothing  can  ever 
staunch,  nothing  exhaust,  nothing  intercept  it !  It  will  not 
let  us  go.  It  leaps  the  gulf  of  space  unattenuated,  it 
bridges  time  unexhausted.  It  does  not  depend  on  our 
reciprocation  or  response.  It  is  not  our  love  that  holds 
God,  but  God's  that  holds  us.  Not  our  love  to  Him,  but 
his  to  us.  And  since  nothing  can  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God,  He  will  go  on  loving  us  forever,  and  pouring 
into  us  the  entire  fulness  of  his  life  and  glory ;  so  that  what- 
ever our  difficulties,  whatever  our  weakness  and  infirmity, 
whatever  the  barrels  of  water  which  drench  the  sacrifice 
and  the  wood  on  which  it  lies,  we  shall  be  kept  steadfast, 
unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
gaining  by  our  losses,  succeeding  by  our  failures,  triumph- 
ing in  our  defeats,  and  ever  more  conquerors  through  Him 
that  loved  us. 


XVII 

<Satl)ering  (Hlotitrs 

(Acts  xx.  22.) 

"  I  know  Thee,  who  has  kept  my  path,  and  made 
Light  for  me  in  the  darkness,  tempeiing  sorrow 
So  that  it  reached  me  like  a  solemn  joy." 

Browning. 

AFTER  the  great  uproar  excited  by  Demetrius  was 
over,  Paul  sent  for  his  disciples  to  come  to  his  place 
of  hiding,  and  exhorted  them;  commending  them  to  the 
grace  of  God,  and  taking  a  sad  farewell.  This  done,  he 
departed  to  go  into  Macedonia  by  way  of  Troas. 

For  the  story  of  the  next  few  months  we  must  turn  to 
the  second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  which  is  the  most 
remarkable  of  his  epistles  for  its  revelation  of  his  heart. 
Bengel  calls  it  an  itinerary,  and  Dean  Stanley  says  that 
the  very  stages  of  his  journey  are  impressed  on  it ;  while  a 
third  says  that  the  strong  emotions  under  which  it  was  writ- 
ten make  it  more  difficult  to  translate  than  any  other. 

At  Troas,  which  he  now  visited  for  a  second  time,  the 
Apostle  expected  to  meet  Titus,  who  had  probably  been 
the  bearer  of  the  first  Epistle  to  Corinth — a  letter  elicited 
by  the  sad  story  of  the  dissensions  and  disorders  of  the 
Church  there,  which  had  been  brought  to  Ephesus  by 
members  of  the  household  of  Chloe.  He  had  dealt 
with  the  whole  situation  in  very  stringent  terms,  and  was 
intensely  anxious  to  learn  the  result  of  his  words.  Often 
since   writing    he    had    questioned    whether  he  might  not 

^54 


GATHERING  CLOUDS  156 

have  imperilled  his  entire  influence  for  good  over  his 
converts,  and  driven  them  into  defiance  and  despair. 
The  delay  of  Titus  confirmed  his  worst  fears;  and,  though 
a  great  door  of  ministry  was  opened  at  Troas,  he  could  find 
no  relief  for  his  perturbed  and  eager  spirit,  but  taking  leave 
of  them  went  forth  into  Macedonia  (2  Cor.  ii.  13). 

In  all  probability  Paul  made  at  once  for  the  beloved 
Philippi ;  but  even  there,  since  no  tidings  of  Titus  were  to 
hand,  his  flesh  had  no  relief.  He  was  afflicted  on  every 
side ;   without  were  fightings,  and  within  were  fears. 

At  last,  God  that  comforteth  the  lowly  comforted  him  by 
the  coming  of  the  overdue  traveller.  He  was  glad,  not  only 
to  have  his  friend  at  his  side,  but  to  learn  that  the  effect  of 
his  first  letter  had  been  wholesome,  and  had  led  to  an  out- 
break of  godly  repentance  and  aff*ectionate  yearning  to  him- 
self. It  was  after  conference  with  Titus  on  the  whole  state 
of  affairs  at  Corinth  that  he  indited  his  second  Epistle. 

I.  His  Multiplied  Sorrows. — Throughout  the  Epistle 
Paul  speaks  of  the  great  anguish  through  which  he  was 
passing;  and  whilst  he  rebuts  the  many  unkind  and 
slanderous  allegations  made  against  him,  he  does  so  with 
pathetic  references  to  his  suff'erings. 

The  treasure  was  in  an  earthen  vessel.  He  was  pressed, 
perplexed,  pursued,  and  smitten  down  ;  always  bearing 
about  in  the  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus  :  the  out- 
ward man  was  decaying;  many  groans  escaped  him,  being 
burdened,  and  he  often  longed  to  be  absent  from  the  body, 
that  he  might  be  present  with  the  Lord. 

In  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  enumeration  of  an- 
titheses in  any  language,  he  mentions,  among  other  sources 
of  anguish,  his  spells  of  sleeplessness,  his  repeated  fastings, 
the  blows,  imprisonments,  tumults,  toils,  and  pressure  of 
his  daily  life.     But  there  must  have  been  other  and  deeper 


156  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

reasons — perhaps  that  he  was  being  so  persistently  maligned, 
and  his  teachings  so  flagrantly  misrepresented ;  or  because 
the  love  of  many  was  waxing  cold;  or  that  the  infant 
churches,  on  which  he  had  expended  so  many  prayers  and 
tears,  were  proving  themselves  unworthy.  But,  however 
these  things  might  be,  the  sufferings  of  Christ  seem  almost 
to  have  submerged  him. 

But  the  Father  of  mercies  and  God  of  all  comfort  drew 
near  and  comforted  him.  There  were  many  notes  in  that 
sweet  and  tender  refrain  that  stole  on  the  heart  of  his 
afflicted  servant.  The  testimony  of  his  conscience,  that  he 
had  wrought  in  sincerity  and  holiness  ;  the  divine  faithful- 
ness, which  never  gave  sign  of  fickleness  or  failure;  the 
light  of  the  knowledge  of  God  that  shone  clear  in  his  soul ; 
the  thanksgiving  of  many  to  God  which  arose  through  his 
sorrows ;  the  vision  of  the  eternal  weight  of  glory  ;  the 
earnest  of  the  Spirit  in  his  soul,  and  the  sure  anticipation 
of  the  building  of  God  which  awaited  him  in  the  heavens ; 
the  blessed  sense  of  being  an  ambassador  of  Christ  and  a 
fellow- worker  with  God.  God  knows  how  to  comfort ;  and 
fountains  of  divine  consolation  arose  from  unknown  depths 
for  him,  as  they  will  for  thee  and  me.  And  thus,  though 
the  outward  man  decay,  the  inward  man  will  be  renewed 
day  by  day. 

But  in  spite  of  all,  this  deeply  suffering  soul  never  abated 
for  a  moment  its  devoted  labors  for  the  cause  of  God.  His 
letters  abound  with  references  to  the  offertory  which  he  was 
raising  for  the  poverty-stricken  saints  at  Jerusalem  from  all 
the  churches  he  had  established.  Now  he  stimulates  Cor- 
inth by  citing  the  example  of  Macedonia;  and  again  he 
enumerates  the  precautions  against  the  slanders  of  those 
who  alleged  that  he  was  profiting  by  the  contributions. 
There  are  indications  also  of  his  labors,  not  only  toward 
the  churches  that  knew  and  revered  him,  but  in  new  and 


GATHERING  CLOUDS  157 

unexplored  regions.  Being  ambitious  to  preach  the  Gospel 
where  Christ  had  not  been  already  named,  and  unwilling  to 
build  on  another  man's  foundation,  he  fully  preached  the 
Gospel  even  to  Illyricum,  on  the  Adriatic. 

Oh,  incomparable  man,  no  weights  could  stay  the  flight 
of  thy  devoted  spirit !  Nay,  as  the  child's  kite  must  be 
weighted  to  make  it  soar  the  higher,  so  did  thy  sorrows 
give  thee  new  yearnings  over  souls,  new  ambitions  for  thy 
Lord  !  Thou  hast  thy  reward  in  the  love  of  Gentile  hearts, 
until  the  sundown  of  the  present  age,  as  thou  hadst  thy 
glorying  in  Christ  Jesus  in  things  pertaining  to  God.  We 
magnify  Christ  in  thee,  for  we  fully  realize  that  He  wrought 
through  thee,  for  the  obedience  of  the  Gentiles,  by  word 
and  deed,  in  the  power  of  signs  and  wonders,  and  in  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

II.  His  Friends. — Some  men  have  a  marvellous  power 
in  attaching  men  to  themselves.  They  possess  a  kind  of 
spiritual  magnetism  for  others,  who  gather  to  their  heart 
and  follow  their  lead.  Paul  had  this  power  in  a  preeminent 
degree.  He  was  loved  as  few  have  been  loved,  and  he 
loved  in  return.  It  must  have  therefore  been  a  peculiar 
pleasure  to  him,  as  at  last  he  came  to  Corinth,  to  find  him- 
self the  centre  of  a  great  assemblage  of  devoted  friends. 

There  was  Timothy,  his  **  beloved  child,"  his  *'true 
child  in  faith  "  ;  Tychicus,  "the  beloved  brother  and  faith- 
ful fellow-servant  in  the  Lord,"  who  was  with  him  in  his 
last  imprisonment ;  Titus,  his  "  partner  and  fellow-worker," 
his  '*  true  child  after  the  common  faith  "  ;  Luke,  **the  be- 
loved physician,"  who  accompanied  him  to  Rome,  and  was 
with  him  to  the  last ;  Trophimus,  the  Ephesian,  who  would 
have  been  with  him  to  death  had  not  sickness  detained  him 
at  Miletus ;  Aristarchus  and  Secundus,  the  former  of  whom 
probably  contrived  to  become  his  fellow-prisoner  that  be 


158  PAUL:  Ji  SERl^ANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

might  minister  to  his  illustrious  friend ;  Sopater,  his  kins- 
man, well-known  to  the  Roman  Church  ;  Gaius,  a  trophy 
of  that  first  missionary  tour  which  had  taken  him  to  Derbe ; 
and  the  other  Gaius,  at  this  time  his  host ;  and  Jason,  who 
had  sheltered  him  at  Thessalonica  at  the  risk  of  his  life. 

And  these  were  only  a  sheaf  of  the  great  harvest  of  his 
friends.  Writing  at  this  time  from  Corinth,  he  greets 
twenty-six  persons  by  name  in  the  closing  verses  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  Priscilla  and  Aquila,  who  would 
have  laid  down  their  necks  for  him ;  his  beloved  Epsenetus  ; 
Araplias,  his  *'  beloved  in  the  Lord ;  "  Persis,  the  beloved  ; 
and  many  others.  If  he  were  more  bitterly  hated  than 
most,  he  had  a  greater  meed  of  love  than  most,  and  his 
course  through  the  world  was  constantly  gathering  around 
it  the  wealth  of  human  hearts.  And  what  love  in  the 
annals  of  Love  is  comparable  to  that  which  unites  souls  in 
Christ? 

*«  Hearts  I  have  won  of  sister  or  of  brother. 
Quick  on  the  earth  or  hidden  in  the  sod, 
Lo,  every  heart  awaiteth  me,  another 
Friend  in  the  blameless  family  of  God." 

What  blessed  fellowship  these  elect  souls  must  have  had 
at  Corinth,  during  those  memorable  three  months  in  which 
the  Epistles  to  the  Galatians  and  the  Romans  were  being 
written !  Probably  those  masterly  arguments  were  first 
given  in  their  reverent  and  rapt  hearing.  To  them  was  ut- 
tered the  first  rough  draft  of  Romans  v.  and  viii. ;  or  of 
Gal.  iii.  and  v.  The  conversations — carried  far  on  into  the 
night — on  the  destiny  of  Israel,  the  counsels  of  God,  the 
method  of  dealing  with  the  scruples  of  weak  consciences, 
may  have  engaged  eager  and  intense  discussion. 

At  last  it  became  necessary  for  the  party  to  break  up. 
Paul  was  eager  to  get  to  Jerusalem  for  the  Passover,  and  a 


GATHERING  CLOUDS  159 

passage  had  been  taken  for  him  in  one  of  the  pilgrim  ves- 
sels that  started  each  spring  from  every  port  on  the  ^gean 
for  Palestine.  Before  his  embarkation,  however,  a  plot  was 
discovered  on  the  part  of  the  Jews  for  his  assassination,  and 
he  was  compelled  to  alter  his  route,  going  with  an  escort  of 
friends  through  Macedonia,  and  taking  up  a  sailing  vessel 
from  Troas.  He  took  advantage  of  this  change  in  his  plans 
to  say  another  farewell  to  the  endeared  circle  at  Philippi, 
always  nearest  his  heart ;  and  then  hastened  to  rejoin  the 
little  band  that  awaited  him  at  Troas,  sworn  to  care  for 
him  and  the  treasure  which  he  had  been  at  such  pains  to 
collect. 

III.  Sad  Forebodings. — That  journey  from  Troas, 
down  the  ragged  shores  of  Asia  Minor,  sailing  by  day  and 
anchoring  by  night,  must  in  some  senses  have  been  sadder 
to  the  little  band  of  devoted  followers  than  to  Paul. 

He  had  no  doubt  as  to  its  bourne.  He  went  bound  in 
the  spirit  to  Jerusalem,  sure  that  there,  as  in  every  other 
city,  bonds  and  afflictions  awaited  him.  Of  this  the  Holy 
Spirit  gave  unequivocal  testimony.  He  prolonged  his 
speech  at  Troas  till  midnight,  and  sent  for  the  elders  of  the 
Ephesian  Church  to  meet  him  at  Miletus,  because  he  knew 
that  all  they  among  whom  he  had  gone  about  preaching  the 
Kingdom  should  see  his  face  no  more.  He  said  farewell  to 
the  little  groups,  who  waved  their  good-byes  across  the 
waters  to  his  receding  ship,  as  though  it  were  his  last. 
What  the  Spirit  said  through  the  disciples  at  Tyre  only  cor- 
roborated what  He  had  said  to  the  heart  of  Paul  (Acts  xx. 
23).  What  Agabus  foretold  in  striking  symbolism,  had 
been  prognosticated  already  by  that  inward  prophet  whose 
voice  cannot  be  bribed.  Though  he  was  quite  willing  to 
adopt  any  course  of  action  which  James  might  suggest, 
with  the  view  of  keeping  him  pent  up  in  the  upper  platform 


160  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

of  the  Temple,  away  from  the  streets,  filled  at  the  feast 
time  with  excited  crowds,  he  knew  it  would  not  avail ;  and 
it  excited  no  surprise  when  he  found  himself  the  centre  of 
a  frenzied  mob,  hurrying  him  down  the  Temple  steps  to  the 
lowest  court,  where  they  meant  to  take  his  life  without  sac- 
rilege to  the  holy  shrine„ 

To  those  that  loved  him,  the  successive  and  unanimous 
prognostications  of  coming  disaster  were  like  the  falling  of 
the  earth  sods  on  a  coffin  containing  the  earthly  remains  of 
one's  dearest  friend.  Luke  gives  us  a  pathetic  picture  of 
the  scene  in  the  house  of  Philip,  their  host  at  Caesarea,  with 
whom  Paul  must  have  exchanged  tender  reminiscences  of 
Stephen.  Agabus  came  there  from  Jerusalem,  and  unbind- 
ing Paul's  girdle  bound  himself  with  it,  speaking  in  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  announcing  that  in  like 
manner  the  Jews  would  bind  its  owner.  **And,"  says 
Luke,  "when  we' heard  these  things,  both  we  and  they  of 
that  place  besought  him  not  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem."  They 
wept  sore  ;  enough,  Paul  said,  to  break  his  heart. 

But  he  was  marvellously  sustained.  It  seemed  as  though 
he  were  going  rather  to  a  bridal  than  a  funeral.  Was  not 
his  spirit  espoused  to  his  Lord,  and  would  not  death  land 
him  in  his  presence,  which  was  far  better  than  the  choice 
society  of  his  friends?  He  was  ready  not  to  be  bound 
only,  but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Indeed,  he  held  not  his  life  of  any  account,  as  dear 
unto  himself,  in  comparison  of  accomplishing  his  course, 
and  the  ministry,  which  he  had  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

"  Yea  thro'  life,  death,  thro'  sorrow  and  thro'  sinning, 
He  shall  suffice  me,  for  He  hath  sufficed ; 
Christ  is  the  end,  for  Christ  was  the  beginning, 
Christ  the  beginning,  for  the  end  is  Christ." 


XVIII 
aije  i«rtl}erance  of  tt)t  ®O0pd 

(Philippians  i.  12,  13.) 

«  My  soul  exults  to  dwell  secure, 
Thy  strong  munitions  round  her ; 
She  dares  to  count  her  triumphs  sure, 

Nor  fears  lest  hell  confound  her ; 
Though  tumults  startle  earth  and  sea, 
Thou  changeless  Rock !  they  shake  not  Thee." 

Ray  Palmer. 

THAT  was  the  one  thing  Paul  cared  for.  If  only  the 
Gospel  of  the  love  of  God  made  progress,  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  were  magnified,  he  was  more  than  content  to 
suffer  to  the  uttermost.  And  now,  as  he  reviews  the  things 
which  had  happened  to  him  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
years,  he  rejoices  with  exceeding  joy  to  be  able  to  announce 
to  his  brethren  at  Philippi  that  they  had  fallen  out  to  the 
furtherance  of  the  Gospel. 

Our  space  forbids  us  to  tell  in  detail  the  story  of  his 
transportation  from  the  lower  platform  of  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem  to  the  hired  house  at  Rome;  but  we  may  at 
least  consider  its  successive  stages  beneath  the  light  of  the 
thought,  which  gave  him  such  pleasure,  that  they  had  all 
conduced  to  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel,  partly  by  giving 
him  an  opportunity  of  manifesting  the  traits  of  a  true  Chris- 
tian character,  and  partly  by  enabling  him  to  give  his  testi- 
mony for  Jesus  before  the  highest  tribunals  in  the  world. 

First y  there  was  the  aivfulriot  in  the  Temple-court, — Th^ 
161 


162  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Jews  of  Asia,  perhaps  led  by  Alexander  the  coppersmith, 
laid  hold  of  Paul,  under  the  impression  that  he  had  intro- 
duced Trophimus,  whom  they  knew  as  an  Ephesian,  into 
the  court  reserved  for  Jews.  They  dragged  him  down  the 
steps,  furiously  beating  him  the  while,  and  with  the  intent 
of  murdering  him  when  they  reached  the  bottom.  With 
the  greatest  difficulty  he  was  rescued  by  Lysias  and  his 
legionaries,  who  rushed  down  from  the  adjoining  Castle  of 
Antonia,  surrounded  him  with  their  shields,  and  bore  him 
back  on  their  shoulders  from  the  frenzied  vehemence  of  the 
mob.  It  was  not  simply  the  result  of  natural  coolness  and 
self-command,  but  because  he  was  at  rest  in  Christ,  and 
desired  to  magnify  his  Master,  that  he  was  able  to  hold  a 
brief  conversation  with  his  deliverer  in  the  midst  of  the 
tumult,  and  obtain  permission  to  address  the  people  in  their 
national  tongue,  weaving  the  story  of  the  risen  Jesus  so  in- 
geniously into  his  personal  narrative,  that  they  could  do 
no  other  than  listen. 

There  was  a  manly  strength  in  his  quiet  remonstrance 
with  those  who  were  set  to  examine  him  by  scourging,  and 
avowal  of  Roman  citizenship,  which  must  have  filled  them 
with  profound  respect.     Here  was  no  common  criminal ! 

Some  have  questioned  the  propriety  of  his  behavior,  when 
on  the  following  day  he  was  arraigned  before  the  Sanhed- 
rim. But  Annas,  who  sat  to  judge  him,  had  really  been 
deposed  from  the  High  Priesthood  by  right,  though,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  exercised  that  office  still.  And  as  to 
raising  the  question  of  the  Resurrection,  that,  after  all,  was 
the  one  point  at  issue  between  him  and  the  Jews.  The 
Pharisees  professed  to  believe  in  the  Resurrection,  and  yet 
refused  to  admit  that  Jesus  had  risen.  Paul,  on  the  other 
hand,  sought  to  establish  not  only  that  there  would  be  a 
Resurrection,  but  that  there  had  been  one. 

That  his  efforts  to  use  these  trying  scenes  for  the  glory  of 


THE  FURTHERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  163 

his  Master  were  appreciated  and  accepted  was  made  abun- 
dantly clear  by  the  vision  of  the  Lord,  who  bade  him  be  of 
good  cheer,  and  assured  him  that  the  witness  which  he  had 
given  from  the  steps  of  the  castle  and  in  the  halls  of  the 
Sanhedrim  should  be  repeated  in  Rome  herself,  at  the  very 
heart  of  the  empire,  where  all  the  Gentiles  should  hear. 

There  must  have  been  something  very  noble  and  heroic 
in  his  bearing ;  or  his  nephew,  who  was  evidently  in  the 
secrets  of  his  foes,  and  must  have  passed  as  a  bigoted  Jew, 
would  never  have  run  the  risk  of  being  torn  limb  from  limb 
for  divulging  the  secret  plot  of  the  zealots,  who  had  bound 
themselves  by  a  solemn  vow  neither  to  eat  nor  drink  till 
they  had  forever  silenced  the  tongue  that  gave  them  more 
cause  to  fear  than  all  the  legions  of  Felix's  escort. 

His  Judicial  Trials. — He  was  presently  hurried  by  a  strong 
body  of  soldiers  in  a  forced  march,  by  night,  to  Antipatris, 
thirty-five  miles  distant,  and  twenty-five  miles  further,  on 
the  following  day,  to  Csesarea,  to  undergo  trial  before  Felix, 
the  Roman  Governor  of  Judea.  But  as  on  repeated  occa- 
sions he  stood  before  him,  he  seemed  less  eager  for  himself, 
and  bent  on  snatching  every  opportunity  of  so  public  a 
position  to  explain  the  nature  of  *'  the  Way,"  and  to  reason 
with  his  judge  concerning  the  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  In- 
deed, on  one  occasion  he  spoke  so  powerfully  of  righteous- 
ness, self-control,  and  judgment  to  come,  in  the  presence 
of  Felix  and  the  woman  with  whom  he  was  living  in  adul- 
tery, that  Felix  trembled  as  the  prisoner  compelled  him  to 
review  a  life  of  shameless  infamy  beneath  the  searchlight 
of  an  awakened  conscience. 

When  Festus  came  in  the  room  of  Felix,  who  had  been 
recalled  in  disgrace,  the  Apostle,  within  a  few  days,  so  far 
impressed  the  newcomer  with  his  faith  in  Jesus,  who  had 
died,  but  whom  he  affirmed  to  be  alive,  that  the  Governor 
was  able  to  state  the  case  with  wonderful  accuracy  to  King 


164  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Agrippa,  who,  with  his  sister  Bernice,  came  to  pay  their 
respects  to  the  new  representative  of  the  Emperor. 

But  perhaps  Paul's  greatest  opportunity,  and  one  of  which 
he  availed  himself  to  the  full,  was  that  in  which  he  was  able 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  an  assembly  that  comprised  all  the 
fashion,  wealth,  and  distinction  of  the  land.  Festus  was 
there  in  state,  and  the  Herods,  brother  and  sister,  seated  on 
golden  chairs ;  the  officers  of  the  garrison,  and  the  princi- 
pal men  of  the  city.  How  great  a  contrast  between  the 
splendid  pomp  of  that  occasion  and  the  poor  chained  pris- 
oner at  the  bar  !  Yet,  in  truth,  though  bending  under  the 
weight  of  sixty  years  and  many  sorrows,  he  was  the  noblest 
and  fairest  decked  of  all  the  glittering  throng.  How  grandly 
he  preached  Christ  that  day  under  the  guise  of  making  his 
defence  !  The  story  of  the  suffering  and  risen  Lord ;  the 
fulfilment  of  the  predictions  of  Moses  and  the  prophets; 
the  opening  of  eyes ;  the  turning  from  darkness  to  light ; 
the  conditions  of  remitted  sin  and  an  inheritance  among 
the  saints — such  topics  were  recited  with  all  the  passionate 
earnestness  of  which  he  was  capable,  till  the  Roman  thought 
him  mad,  and  the  Jew  princeling  needed  all  his  courtly  wit 
to  turn  aside  the  barbed  dart  of  the  prisoner's  appeal. 

CiESAREA.  In  one  of  the  guardrooms  of  the  old  palace 
of  the  Caesars,  for  two  whole  years,  Paul  was  kept  a  pris- 
oner, but  permitted  to  see,  and  receive  help  from,  his 
friends.  How  gladly  must  the  saints  in  Caesarea  and  from 
other  places  have  availed  themselves  of  the  privilege  !  It  is 
an  old  tradition  that  during  this  period  Luke  wrote  the 
Third  Gospel,  in  fellowship  with  his  friend,  and  under  his 
direction.  If  this  were  so,  what  an  unfailing  source  of  in- 
terest it  must  have  been  to  the  two  to  trace  the  course  of  all 
things  accurately  from  the  first,  as  they  delivered  them, 
which  from  the  beginning  were  eyewitnesses  and  ministers  of 


THE  FURTHERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  165 

the  Word.  In  another  way  that  period  of  two  years  was  very 
fruitful  in  the  best  sense.  Paul's  appreciation  of  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus,  was  greatly  ripened  and  deepened.  Contrast 
the  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  Corinthians ,  Romans ^ 
and  GalatianSy  with  those  to  the  Ephesians^  Philippians^  and 
ColossianSy  and  the  advance  is  easily  discernible.  Less 
polemics  and  defence  of  his  motives  and  actions,  and  more 
of  the  believer's  vital  union  with  his  Lord ;  less  doctrinal 
discussion  of  the  work  of  Christ,  and  more  absorption  in 
his  Person ;  less  of  the  old  covenant,  more  of  the  new,  of 
the  King,  and  of  the  life  in  the  heavenlies.  Ah  !  those 
years  spent  within  view  of  the  dividing  sea,  restrained  by 
the  old  castle  walls,  and  the  chain  which  he  shook  so  pa- 
thetically before  Festus  and  his  guests,  notwithstanding  that 
the  indomitable  spirit  was  stayed  from  its  incessant  labors 
and  journeys,  were  turned  to  good  account,  if  only  they  en- 
abled him  to  give  the  Church  his  priceless  prison  Epistles. 

At  last  this  term  of  confinement  came  to  an  end.  The 
ecclesiastical  authorities  had  never  ceased  to  urge  that  he 
should  be  handed  over  to  their  jurisdiction,  a  claim  which 
in  God's  good  providence  the  Roman  Governors  steadfastly 
refused.  They  knew,  and  Paul  knew,  that  to  such  a  trial 
there  would  be  only  one  end.  But  finally,  when  Festus 
showed  signs  of  yielding,  Paul  claimed  his  right  as  a  Roman 
citizen  to  have  his  case  tried  by  the  Emperor  himself,  partly 
because  it  would  remove  it  from  local  prejudice,  partly 
because  he  desired  to  secure  for  the  Christian  Church  the 
same  recognition  as  was  awarded  to  the  Jewish  synagogue, 
and  partly  that  he  might  fulfil  his  long-cherished  purpose 
of  proclaiming  the  Gospel  in  Rome. 

To  that  appeal  nothing  to  the  contrary  could  be  alleged. 
He  had  appealed  to  Caesar,  and  to  Caesar  he  must  go.  As 
soon  as  possible  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of  a  centurion 
for  conveyance  to  the  imperial  city. 


166  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Then  came  the  Voyage. — At  every  stage  of  it  the 
Apostle  seems  to  have  bent  all  his  endeavors  to  use  his 
opportunities,  as  far  as  possible,  for  the  glory  of  his  Lord. 
To  him  to  live  was  Christ.  He  reckoned  always  and  every- 
where that  he  was  a  debtor  to  all  men,  and  under  obligation 
to  repay  to  each  some  proportion  of  the  momentous  debt 
he  owed  for  his  redemption. 

They  set  sail,  first  in  an  ordinary  sailing  vessel,  then  from 
Myra,  in  an  Alexandrian  corn  ship,  one  of  the  great  fleet 
perpetually  engaged  in  provisioning  Rome.  Contrary  to 
Paul's  advice,  who  even  at  this  stage  of  the  voyage  must 
have  been  considered  as  a  person  of  distinction  and  ex- 
perience, the  captain  attempted  to  cross  the  open  bay  from 
the  Fair  Havens  to  Phoenice,  each  on  the  southern  side  of 
Crete.  But,  when  halfway  across,  the  wind  changed,  and 
a  sudden  squall  struck  down  from  the  mountains  and  car- 
ried the  big  ship  out  to  sea.  In  the  brief  respite  afforded 
of  sailing  under  the  lee  of  the  little  island  of  Clauda,  they 
hauled  in  the  boat  which  had  been  tearing  through  the 
water  behind  them,  and  got  ropes  round  the  straining  vessel 
to  strengthen  her.  This  done,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  drift  through  the  open  sea.  Three  days  after,  all  hands 
(even  of  the  prisoners)  were  called  in  to  lighten  the  ship, 
by  casting  out  cargo  and  other  movables ;  and  after  many 
days  of  storm,  in  which  neither  sun  nor  moon  appeared,  all 
hope  that  they  should  be  saved  gradually  faded  away. 

It  was  then  that  Paul  stood  forth,  calm,  assured,  with  the 
message  of  God,  to  cheer  and  reanimate  their  fainting 
hearts.  Like  Peter  before  his  execution,  the  servant  of  God 
had  quietly  slept  amid  the  tumult.  Like  Peter,  too,  he  had 
been  ministered  to  by  angels.  Through  the  murky  atmos- 
phere one  of  these  ministering  spirits  had  found  his  way  to 
his  side,  uttering  a  *'Fear  not!"  fresh  from  the  throne, 
and  an  assurance  that  he  should  yet  stand  before  Csesar. 


THE  FURTHERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  167 

Evidently  the  deliverance  of  the  crew  had  been  previously 
the  subject  of  the  Apostle's  prayer ;  for  the  angel  added, 
**  Lo  !  there  have  been  granted  unto  thee  by  God  all  they 
that  sail  with  thee."  Here  was  an  opportunity  of  preach- 
ing faith  in  God,  and  belief  in  the  power  of  prayer. 

Always  full  of  prompt  common  sense,  he  detected  the  at- 
tempt of  the  sailors,  when  the  vessel  struck,  to  get  away  in 
the  boat ;  but  with  something  above  common  sense,  with 
a  sense  of  the  Eternal  and  Divine,  he  took  bread,  and  as 
though  he  were  presiding  at  the  Lord's  table  in  Corinth  or 
Philippi,  he  gave  thanks  to  God  in  the  presence  of  all,  and 
broke  it,  and  began  to  eat. 

When  they  reached  the  shore  of  Malta  on  that  drear  No- 
vember morning,  it  seemed  as  though  nothing  more  could 
be  done  to  further  the  Gospel.  But  as  the  viper  fell  off 
Paul's  hand,  and  the  father  of  the  chief  man  in  the  island 
was  healed  of  dysentery  through  his  prayer,  and  all  else 
who  had  diseases  throughout  the  island  were  cured  by  his 
touch,  much  was  done  to  magnify  Him,  concerning  whom 
Paul  was  proud  to  say,  "Whose  I  am,  and  whom  I 
serve." 

So  TO  Rome. — Did  his  heart  misgive  him  as  he  at  last 
approached  the  city,  and  signs  of  her  splendor  and  teeming 
life  multiplied  at  every  step  ?  He  had  often  thought  of  this 
moment,  and  longed  for  it.  Some  three  years  before,  writ- 
ing to  the  Church  at  Rome,  he  said,  **I  long  to  see  you, 
that  I  may  impart  sonie  spiritual  gift."  He  confessed  that 
he  had  often  prayed  and  purposed  to  come  to  them.  But 
he  had  never  anticipated  coming  like  this — one  of  a  knot 
of  prisoners  in  charge  of  Roman  legionaries.  But  almost 
certainly  through  his  bonds  he  was  able  to  effect  very  much 
more  good  than  if  he  had  been  free.  Had  he  been  free,  he 
might   have  gone  from  synagogue  to  synagogue,  but  the 


168  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

opportunity  would  never  have  befallen  him  of  speaking  to 
the  Pretorian  guard  and  Caesar's  household. 

It  is  thus  that  God  answers  our  prayers  in  ways  and 
methods  we  did  not  expect.  We  have  set  our  hearts  on 
realizing  some  project.  For  long  years  it  has  gleamed 
before  us  as  an  Alp  through  its  long  drawn  valley.  We 
have  yearned,  prayed,  and  wrought  for  it  night  and  day. 
Assurances  have  been  borne  in  upon  our  souls  that  one  day 
we  shall  rejoice  in  a  realization  of  our  cherished  desires. 
But  when  at  last  we  come  to  our  Rome,  it  is  as  prisoners, 
and  our  hands  in  fetters. 

God  fulfilled  Paul's  desire  to  see  Rome  in  this  way  prob- 
ably for  two  reasons.  First,  for  safety's  sake,  and  secondly 
for  the  wider  audience  that  awaited  him.  And  these  two 
reasons  may  necessitate  our  being  conducted  to  our  Rome 
in  chains.  Were  it  otherwise,  the  very  exuberance  of  our 
joy  might  intoxicate,  or  the  gratification  of  our  ambition 
might  overbalance.  It  is  best  to  have  the  chain.  Not 
Rome  without  the  chain,  nor  the  chain  without  Rome  ;  but 
Rome  and  the  chain  together. 

Do  not  fret  at  the  limitations  and  disabilities  of  your  life. 
They  are  required  as  the  makeweight,  and  constitute  your 
opportunity.  Storm  and  shipwreck,  centurion  and  sea 
captain,  soldier  and  fetter,  Csesarea  and  Rome — all  are 
part  of  the  plan,  all  work  together  for  good,  all  are  achiev- 
ing God's  ideal,  and  making  you  what,  in  your  best  hours, 
you  have  asked  to  become. 


XIX 
"Jllon  Slbunliantls  tljan  tljeg  all" 

(I  Corinthians  xv.  io.) 

«« Would  I  describe  a  preacher,  such  as  Paul, 
Were  he  on  earth,  would  hear,  approve,  and  own- 
Paul  should  himself  direct  me." 

COWPER. 

''/"^OD,"  says  the  eloquent  Adolphe  Monod,  *Meft  to 
V_X  the  Jews  the  first  twelve  Apostles,  and  gave  to  the 
Gentiles  one  only,  whom  He  prepared  expressly  for  them. 
Like  a  spiritual  Atlas,  Paul  carries  the  whole  heathen  world 
upon  his  shoulders.  That  Roman  empire,  the  most  power- 
ful on  the  face  of  the  earth,  which  required  seven  ages  to 
be  established,  he  took  only  a  quarter  of  an  age  to  regen- 
erate. The  greatest  among  men  was  Jesus  Christ;  the 
greatest  among  apostles  was  Paul." 

Even  in  these  days  of  easy  and  universal  communication 
the  Apostle's  record  as  a  traveller  would  have  been  a  re- 
markable one ;  but  how  much  more  remarkable  it  appears 
when  we  recall  the  banditti  that  infested  the  mountain 
passes  of  Asia  Minor ;  the  impetuous  torrents  that  crossed 
the  track ;  the  vast  distances  that  had  to  be  traversed  on 
foot ;  the  hardships  of  the  wayside  inns  and  caravanserais ; 
the  suspicion  and  dislike  of  which  Jews  must  have  always 
been  the  objects. 

But  what  a  record  he  has  left !  In  h\s  Jirs^  missionary 
journey  he  establishes  churches  as  Christian  garrisons  along 
the  central  highway  of  Asia  Minor,  and  attracts  the  enthu- 

169 


170  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

siastic  Gauls  with  the  tenderest  affection — "  preaching  both 
to  Jews  and  Gentiles,  converting  a  proconsul  and  silencing 
a  false  prophet;  at  one  time  adored  as  a  god,  at  another 
stoned  by  the  same  people  in  their  fury."  In  his  second, 
he  proclaims  the  Gospel  to  Europe,  and  founds  churches  in 
some  of  the  most  famous  and  influential  cities — Philippi, 
Thessalonica,  Bersea,  Athens,  Corinth,  flame  out  as  succes- 
sive beacon  fires  in  the  darkness.  In  the  third,  like  a 
Colossus,  he  strides  the  ^gean,  planting  one  foot  in  Asia 
Minor  and  the  other  in  Greece,  where  he  preaches  even  to 
Illyricum.  In  \\iq  fourth,  after  pleading  his  cause  before  at 
least  three  different  tribunals,  he  traverses  the  Mediterra- 
nean, saves  the  crew  and  passengers  of  the  storm-driven  corn 
ship  by  his  prayers  and  heroism,  compels  the  respect  and 
affection  of  an  island  of  barbarians,  and  reaches  Rome  in 
the  guise  of  a  prisoner,  but  really  as  a  conqueror,  to  unfurl 
the  banner  of  his  Master  in  the  palace  of  the  Caesars.  After 
his  release  he  again  sets  forth  on  journeys  that  carried  him, 
perhaps  to  Spain,  but  certainly  to  familiar  scenes  in  Asia 
Minor  and  Greece.  So  he  fulfils  his  course  till  Rome  and 
martyrdom  again  come  in  sight. 

When  he  began  his  work,  the  world  was  being  borne  to 
her  grave,  in  spite  of  what  philosophy,  literature,  and  legis- 
lation could  do  to  arrest  its  moral  decay ;  but  when  he 
closed  it,  some  thirty  years  afterwards,  germs  of  life  and 
salvation  had  been  sown,  and  even  nurtured  into  sturdy 
growth,  which  were  destined,  after  three  centuries,  to  dis- 
place the  foetid  remnants  of  heathenism  with  the  fresh 
young  undergrowth  of  Christian  civilization. 

We  may  well  inquire  into  the  secret  of  this  marvellous 
work,  to  which,  after  that  of  our  Lord,  the  position  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  world  at  this  moment  is  to  be  ascribed.  And 
if  we  do,  we  shall  discover  it  not  in  his  intellectual  talent 
and  eloquent  speech,  for  these  were  more  than  neutralized 


''MORE  ABUNDANTLY  THAN  THEY  ALL"  171 

by  his  physical  weaknesses,  his  *Hhorn,"  and  his  '*  con- 
temptible "  utterance  (2  Cor.  xi.  6);  but  in  sources  of 
power  which  are  within  the  reach  of  us  all,  however  greatly 
we  may  come  short  of  that  commanding  equipment,  which, 
in  the  words  of  the  great  Neander,  would  have  made  him, 
had  he  sought  it,  shine  in  the  highest  rank  amongst  the 
wise  and  the  orators  of  all  ages,  so  that  he  would  not  have 
been  second  to  any  of  those  masters  of  thought  or  of 
language  of  whom  ancient  Greece  boasted. 

In  the  forefront,  we  must  place  the  Apostle''  s  vivid  remem- 
brance of  the  mercy  that  had  been  shown  him.  **  We  ob- 
tained mercy,"  he  says  on  one  occasion,  when  attempting 
to  explain  the  sources  of  his  indomitable  perseverance 
through  obloquy,  smiting  down,  and  daily  dying.  It  was 
as  though  he  never  could  forget  how  deeply  he  had  sinned, 
and  how  strenuously  he  had  resisted  that  very  grace  which 
he  now  proclaimed.  He  was  constantly  returning  to  this 
precious  thought.  How  could  he  ever  despair  of  men, 
since  such  a  one  as  he  had  found  mercy  ?  How  should  he 
faint,  when  the  same  grace  that  had  laid  hold  of  him  waited 
to  enable  him  ?  How  could  he  ever  repay  the  long-suffer- 
ing which  had  brooded  over  his  storm-driven  nature,  and 
had  abounded  over  his  rebellion,  until  it  made  him  a 
trophy  of  its  power?  Like  a  silver  refrain,  it  came  back 
on  him  in  all  times  of  anguish,  distress,  and  virulent  oppo- 
sition, *' I  obtained  mercy,  therefore  I  dare  not,  must  not 
faint." 

From  the  commencement  to  the  close  of  his  career  Paul 
was  impelled  by  the  one  master-thought  that  he  had  been 
redeemed  to  serve  ;  saved  that  he  might  save  others.  The 
memory  of  what  he  had  been  saved  from  and  saved  to  was 
the  constant  incentive  of  his  arduous  and  exhausting  toils. 
And  so  it  is  well  for  us,  if  we  can  get  away  for  a  time  from 
the   bustle  and  rush  of  life,  to  stand  beneath  the  Cross, 


172  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

where  Jesus  died,  realizing  that  every  drop  from  his  every 
wound  appeals  to  our  every  pulse  throb  to  spend  or  be 
spent  for  the  cause  that  cost  Him  so  dear. 

Closely  connected  with  this^  we  must  mention  the  great 
and  simple  purpose  for  which  the  Apostle  lived.  He  bent 
his  strength  to  save  men,  and  for  this  he  was  prepared  to 
make  any  sacrifice.  He  was  equally  careful  to  the  very  last 
to  institute  and  organize  little  Christian  communities,  which 
were  absolutely  necessary  to  conserve  and  develop  the  life 
that  had  been  implanted.  But  all  such  purposes  were  sub- 
ordinated to  that  which  he  announced  in  his  earliest  Epistle, 
**not  as  pleasing  men,  but  God,  which  trieth  our  hearts" 
(i  Thess.  ii.  4).  It  mattered  comparatively  little  what 
were  the  outward  results  of  his  endeavors,  or  what  men 
might  say  or  do,  so  long  as  he  had  the  testimony  shed 
through  his  heart  that  it  pleased  God. 

This  motive  is  viewed  under  another  light,  when,  in  the 
next  Epistle,  he  yearns  "that  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
be  glorified"  (2  Thess.  i.  12).  We  cannot  forget  that  the 
passion  of  Christ's  heart,  during  his  earthly  ministry,  was 
to  glorify  his  Father ;  and  there  was  a  similar  passion  in  the 
heart  of  Paul  to  glorify  the  Son.  To  the  end  of  his  min- 
istry that  purpose  grew  even  stronger.  It  was  always  his 
earnest  expectation  and  hope  that  in  nothing  he  should  be 
ashamed;  but  that  as  always,  so  then,  Christ  should  be 
magnified  in  his  body,  whether  by  life  or  death. 

Would  that  this  also  were  our  single  aim  !  It  would 
greatly  simplify  our  lives.  We  are  apt  to  set  ourselves  on 
the  accomplishment  of  purposes  which,  though  good  in 
themselves,  fail  of  the  best ;  and  when  we  do  not  succeed 
in  them,  when  the  revival  does  not  ensue,  or  hosts  of  souls 
are  not  converted,  or  the  Church  does  not  heed,  we  are 
apt  to  write  hard  things  against  ourselves  and  God; 
whereas,  if  we  simply  sought  the  good  pleasure  and  glory 


''MORE  ABUNDANTLY  THAN  THEY  ^LU*  173 

of  our  Master,  we  should  discover  that  we  succeed  amid 
apparent  failure,  and  are  more  than  conquerors  when  fleeing 
for  our  lives. 

Happy  is  the  man  who  can  appeal  from  the  verdict  of 
obvious  results,  of  his  fellows,  of  the  inner  circle  of  dearest 
friends,  and  even  of  his  own  heart,  and  say,  *'  With  me  it 
is  a  very  small  thing  that  I  should  be  judged  of  you,  or  of 
man's  judgment :  yea,  I  judge  not  mine  own  self.  For  I 
know  nothing  against  myself;  yet  am  I  not  hereby  justified ; 
but  he  that  judgeth  me  is  the  Lord.  Wherefore  judge  noth- 
ing before  the  time,  until  the  Lord  come,  who  will  both 
bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness,  and  make 
manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts ;  and  then  shall  each  man 
have  his  praise  from  God  "  (i  Cor.  iv.  3-5,  r.v.). 

To  each  of  us  a  stewardship  is  committed,  of  wealth,  or 
time,  or  influence,  or  talent  in  thought  and  speech.  With 
Paul,  each  of  us  can  say,  *  *  I  have  a  stewardship  entrusted 
to  me  "  (i  Cor.  ix.  17,  r.v.).  Now  surely  it  is  required 
in  stewards,  not  that  they  should  realize  all  the  dreams  that 
suggest  themselves  to  their  imagination,  but  that  they  be 
found  faithful  to  Him  that  appointed  them.  Judge  your 
lives  not  by  results,  but  by  their  motives,  and  by  the  smile 
of  his  good  pleasure  who  appointed  you. 

His  plan  of  living  also  greatly  ministered  to  his  success. 
In  point  of  fact,  he  had  no  plan  at  all.  For  him  the  way 
had  been  prepared  in  the  counsels  of  God  before  the  worlds 
were  made,  and  he  had  only  to  discover  its  track.  The 
scheme  of  the  temple  of  his  life  had  been  conceived  by  the 
Divine  Architect ;  he  had  only  to  get  it  by  communion  with 
Him  on  the  Mount.  He  need  do  nothing  from  himself,  in 
the  sense  of  self-origination,  but  what  he  saw  his  Saviour 
doing.  His  one  aim  was  to  repeat  in  the  time  sphere  what 
He  was  doing  in  the  unseen  and  eternal. 

This  made  the  Apostle  so  cautious  in  referring  to  his 


174  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

future  programme.  Whatever  should  betide,  he  must  keep 
in  the  current  of  the  will  of  God.  To  purpose  according 
to  the  flesh,  that  there  should  be  the  Yea,  yea,  Nay,  nay,  of 
human  forecast,  was  foreign  to  the  habit  of  his  mind.  He 
was  ever  living  in  such  dependence  on  the  Holy  Spirit  for 
guidance,  and  for  the  unfolding  of  the  Divine  purpose,  that 
from  some  apparently  trivial  circumstance  he  would 
* '  gather ' '  the  movements  of  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day, 
and  of  fire  by  night.  And  interval  there  was  none  between 
his  apprehension  of  the  Divine  purpose  and  his  endeavor  to 
strike  his  tent  and  follow  wherever  it  might  lead  (Acts  xvi. 

6,  7). 

When,  in  the  present  century,  the  purpose  presented  it- 
self of  completing  that  magnificent  specimen  of  Gothic 
architecture,  the  Cologne  Cathedral,  it  was  not  necessary 
to  prepare  a  plan  for  gathering  up  and  carrying  forward  the 
results  of  previous  centuries  into  a  symmetrical  and  beauti- 
ful edifice.  The  architect  to  whom  the  task  of  completion 
was  entrusted  had  but  to  exhume  and  study  the  plan  as  it 
was  first  conceived  by  Meister  Gerard  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  as  it  is  still  preserved  in  his  own  pen-and-ink 
outlines.  So  Christian  workers  should  never  forget  the  in- 
junction, four  times  repeated  to  Moses,  of  making  all  things 
according  to  the  pattern  shown  them  in  the  Mount.  Thd 
pattern  of  the  Body  of  Christ,  of  the  position  of  each 
individual  believer  among  its  members,  and  of  the  work 
which  each  should  accomplish,  was  fixed  before  the  worlds 
were  made.  "  What  didst  Thou  mean  for  me,  O  God,  in 
my  creation,  redemption,  and  the  ordering  of  my  life? 
Teach  me  to  do  thy  will,  for  Thou  art  my  God.  Thy  Spirit 
is  good:  lead  me  into  the  land  of  uprightness."  Such 
should  be  the  prayer  of  each  Christian  worker. 

But,  perhaps,  the  secret  of  Paulas  success  lay  most  of  all 
in  his  faculty  of  extracting  power  from  his  weaknesses.     He 


*'MORE  JIBUNDANTLY  THAN  THEY  ^LU*  175 

had  eminent  gifts  of  character,  of  energy,  of  power  to  com- 
mand and  lead  and  organize,  of  thought  and  speech  ;  but 
had  it  not  been  for  the  presence  of  his  infirmity,  he  might 
never  have  become  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  or 
accomplished  such  splendid  work.  He  might  have  yielded 
to  self-confidence  in  his  heart  depths,  and  relied  on  these 
extraordinary  endowments,  instead  of  casting  himself  abso- 
lutely, as  he  was  compelled  to  do,  on  the  power  of  God ; 
in  consequence  of  which  his  life  work  was  accomplished, 
not  by  himself,  but  by  God  operating  through  the  frail 
organism  of  his  mortal  body. 

Judging  from  the  words  of  his  detractors,  which  he 
seems  to  endorse,  his  bodily  presence  was  weak,  and  his 
speech  contemptible  (2  Cor.  x.  10),  the  former  phrase  re- 
ferring to  his  thorn  in  the  flesh,  of  which  we  have  spoken ; 
and  the  latter  to  a  lack  of  those  graces  of  oratory  which  the 
Greeks  were  wont  to  expect  in  their  public  teachers.  It  was 
very  humbling  to  the  flesh  ;  but  it  drained  away  the  last 
remains  of  human  pride,  and  left  him,  as  the  forty  years  in 
the  desert  left  Moses,  a  vessel  meet  for  the  Master's  use, 
because  so  utterly  dependent  on  the  Master's  hand  to  direct 
and  empower. 

In  early  life  he  was  one  of  Gamaliel's  most  promising 
pupils,  strong,  self-reliant,  vehement,  clear  in  thought, 
incisive  in  speech,  swift  in  action.  Among  the  men  of  his 
age  few  could  outmatch  Saul  of  Tarsus,  who  earlier  than 
was  customary  became  a  member  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim. 
Would  you  recognize  him  in  the  weakness,  the  fear,  and 
the  much  trembling  of  this  broken  man  ?  Or,  if  you  did, 
might  you  not  be  tempted  to  regret  that  he  had  opposed 
Christ  in  his  strength,  and  had  brought  only  his  weakness 
into  his  service?  But  such  regrets  would  be  wholly  un- 
necessary. Had  Paul  been  strong,  he  might  have  been — 
we  borrow  the  expression — an  Apollos,  a  Chrysostom,  an 


176  PAUL:  JH  SERVAm  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Augustine,  a  Luther,  but  never  Paul.  Because  he  was 
weak  he  was  strong;  because  he  bore  chains  he  was  the 
great  enciancipator  from  chains;  because  he  was  poor  he 
succeeded  in  making  so  many  rich. 

After  this,  let  no  one  complain.  The  only  thing  of 
which  we  need  to  be  sure  is  whether  we  have  been  called  of 
God  to  certain  work  for  Him.  Then,  if  limitations  and 
hindrances  suggest  the  impossibility  of  ever  accomplishing 
it,  let  us  dare  to  glory  in  them,  and  discover  in  their  pres- 
ence the  ground  for  believing  that  we  have  been  selected  for 
the  work  to  which  they  might  threaten  to  become  a  fatal 
barrier.  In  other  words,  let  us  do  by  faith  the  work  which 
others  do  by  human  might. 

Another  element  in  the  success  of  the  ApostW s  work  must 
be  found  in  his  self-abnegation.  He  had  large  and  liberal 
views  of  truth  and  life,  and  could  probably  have  permitted  to 
himself  many  things  which  he  carefully  eschewed,  lest  his 
influence  for  Christ  should  be  impaired.  In  i  Cor.  viii.  13 
he  tells  us  that  if  meat  should  make  his  brother  to  offend, 
he  will  eat  no  flesh  while  the  world  last.  In  i  Cor.  viii.  he 
explains  that,  though  as  far  as  his  own  conscience  was  con- 
cerned, he  could  eat  in  an  idol's  temple  without  condem- 
nation, yet  he  dare  not  do  it,  lest  he  should  cast  a  stumbling 
block  before  the  undecided,  halting,  feet  of  some  weak 
disciple.  In  i  Cor.  ix.  he  alleges  his  determination  to 
forego  the  delights  of  wife  and  child,  though  his  was  a  very 
tender  nature;  to  forego  the  support  which  his  converts 
might  voluntarily  offer,  though  he  had  as  much  right  to 
take  it  as  oxen  their  corn,  or  priests  their  share  of  temple 
offerings.  And  at  the  close  of  that  chapter  he  explains  how 
carefully  he  kept  his  body  under,  bringing  it  into  sub- 
jection, lest  he  should  fail  to  do  the  utmost  possible  for  the 
souls  of  men,  and  compel  the  Lord  to  substitute  an  instru- 
ment more  suited  for  his  purpose.     Again  in  2  Cor.  vi.  3  he 


«MO/?£  ABUNDANTLY  THAN  THEY  ALL''  177 

speaks  of  giving  no  offence  in  anything,  that  the  ministry 
might  not  be  blamed. 

This,  too,  is  a  path  in  which  we  may  follow  the  steps  of 
this  great  servant  of  Jesus.  All  Christian  workers,  zealous 
for  the  coming  of  God's  Kingdom,  must  at  once  forego 
indulgences  and  practices  which  are  not  in  themselves 
unlawful,  that  the  ministry  may  not  be  blamed,  nor  souls 
hindered.  Consideration  of  the  effect  which  may  be 
produced  upon  others  is  a  very  real  and  urgent  factor 
in  determining  our  action  with  regard  to  matters  that 
lie  in  the  great  twilight  borderland,  between  what  is  clearly 
defined  as  right  and  clearly  defined  as  wrong.  The  more 
widespread  our  influence  over  souls,  the  more  absolute  the 
necessity  of  considering  the  effect  on  others  of  methods 
and  actions  in  which  we  are  left  with  large  liberty  of  self- 
determination  and  choice. 

In  this  enumeration  let  tis  not  forget  the  eloquence  of  his 
tears.  '*  Remember,"  he  said  to  the  elders  of  the  Ephesian 
Church,  '*  that  by  the  space  of  three  years  I  ceased  not  to 
warn  everyone  night  and  day  with  tears  "  (Acts  xx.  31). 
Each  word  is  significant !  Not  content  with  appealing 
to  them  by  day,  he  must  needs  invade  his  nights;  when 
worn  by  emotion,  labor,  and  teaching,  his  tired  body 
might  surely  claim  repose.  Nor  was  this  a  spasmodic 
devotion  to  be  followed  by  spells  of  indolence  and 
lethargy.  He  did  not  cease  this  ministry  for  three  long 
years ;  but  pursued  it  without  relaxation,  without  interrup- 
tion, without  pause.  Nor  was  this  work  prosecuted  with 
the  persistence  of  a  zealot  or  the  eagerness  of  a  partisan  ; 
but  with  the  tears  of  a  soul  lover. 

**Do  not  complain,"  says  the  eloquent  writer  already 
quoted,  *'of  his  importunity!  You,  unthankful,  he  dis- 
turbs but  once;  his  own  repose  is  broken  every  night,  if 
not  for  you,  for  others.     Nay,  more ;  whatever  you  are,  he 


178  PAUL:  ^  SERyANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

will  not  let  you  go  until  he  has  obtained — what?  Some 
favor,  some  kindness  ?  Ah  I  the  greatest  favor,  the  great- 
est kindness  you  can  manifest  is  to  be  converted  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or  to  serve  Him  with  greater  fidelity. 
You  refuse  him,  you  repulse  him,  notwithstanding  his  en- 
treaties ;  but  before  you  leave  him,  look  at  him — he  weeps. 
He  weeps  over  the  sins  in  which  you  continue;  over  the 
injury  your  example  does  to  the  Church ;  over  the  stum- 
bling block  you  set  before  the  world ;  and,  above  all,  for 
the  future  you  are  preparing  for  yourself.  What  do  you 
say  to  this  Apostle  in  tears  before  you — I  was  going  to  say 
prostrate  at  your  feet  ?  The  God  whom  he  serves  once 
summed  up  in  a  single  sentence  all  that  his  Apostle  ought 
to  be  :  *  Behold,  he  prayeth.'  You — now  in  your  turn,  you 
to  whom  he  preaches,  may  sum  up  all  that  he  does  for  you 
in  a  single  sentence — behold,  he  weeps." 

Why  is  it  that  this  fount  of  tears  seems  denied  us? 
We  have  tears  for  all  things  else  than  the  infinite  loss 
of  those  who  have  rejected  the  Gospel.  For  this,  alas  ! 
no  single  drop  trickles  along  the  dry  water  courses.  We 
are  smitten  by  a  terrible  drought,  our  heart  a  very  Sahara  : 
our  water  springs  frozen  by  remorseless  cold  or  scorched 
by  relentless  heat.  In  losing  the  power  of  tears  we  have 
lost  one  great  power  of  causing  them.  It  is  by  broken 
hearts  that  hearts  are  broken ;  by  wet  eyes  that  eyes  are 
made  to  brim  over  with  the  waters  of  repentant  sorrow. 

Lastly,  let  us  not  forget  the  Apostle's  individual  interest 
in  his  converts.  **  Warning  everyone  of  you  night  and  day 
with  tears,"  is  one  evidence  of  this;  and  for  another  we 
turn  instinctively  to  Col.  i.  28:  **Whom  we  preach, 
warning  every  man,  and  teaching  every  man,  in  all 
wisdom ;  that  we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in 
Christ  Jesus."  How  he  dwells  on  that  phrase,  **  every 
man"  !     He   had   no  sympathy  with   the  reckless  haste 


''MORE  JiBUUDAmiY  THAN  THEY  ^LL"  179 

that  shakes  the  boughs  of  the  fruit  trees  to  obtain  their 
precious  harvest.  He  knew  too  well  the  peril  of  injuring 
the  delicate  bloom.  All  the  fruit  he  gathered  for  God  was 
hand  picked.  He  was  more  fond  of  the  hand  net  than  the 
seine.  Like  his  Master,  he  would  go  far  out  of  his  way  if 
he  might  cast  the  demon  out  of  one  possessed  spirit,  or 
persuade  an  Agrippa  to  become  a  Christian.  One  soul,  for 
whom  Christ  died,  was  in  his  sight  of  unspeakable  worth. 

But  underlying  all  these  y  there  was  the  fundamental  con- 
ception that  it  was  not  he^  but  the  grace  of  God  that  was  with 
him,  and  the  power  of  God  which  wrought  through  him. 
He  energized  according  to  the  energy  of  a  mightier  than 
himself,  who  energized  in  him  mightily.  He  wrought,  yet 
not  he,  but  Christ  wrought  in  him.  Anything  save  what 
Christ  wrought  in  him  was  wood,  hay,  and  stubble,  of 
which  he  dared  not  take  account.  He  did  not  work  for 
Christ,  but  offered  himself  to  Him  without  reserve,  that 
Christ  might  penetrate  and  irradiate  the  inmost  recesses  of 
his  being,  and  then,  through  its  cleansed  panes,  go  forth  to 
illuminate  the  hearts  of  men.  All  his  care  was  to  purify 
himself,  that  he  might  at  all  times  be  meet  for  the  Master's 
use.  His  one  desire  was  to  yield  himself  to  God,  and  that 
his  members  might  be  used  as  weapons  in  the  great  conflict 
against  the  powers  of  hell. 

This  is,  after  all,  the  first  and  last  lesson  for  the  Christian 
worker.  Be  clean,  pure  of  heart,  and  simple  in  motive. 
See  to  it  that  there  be  no  friction  between  your  will  and 
Christ's.  Be  adjusted,  in  gear,  well  set  and  jointed.  Sub- 
due your  own  activities  as  much  as  your  own  natural 
lethargy.  Stand  still  till  God  impels  you.  Wait  till  He 
works  in  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure. 
Exercise  faith  that  God  should  accomplish  in  you  the 
greatest  results  possible  to  the  capacity  of  your  nature. 
Let  there  be  no  thought  of  what  you  can  do  for  God,  but 


180  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

all  thought  of  what  God  can  do  through  you.  Nothing 
will  make  you  so  intense  and  ceaseless  in  your  activity  as 
this. 

There  will  be  an  end  of  cowardice  and  of  pride :  of 
cowardice,  because  you  will  find  yourself  borne  along  by 
an  irresistible  impulse ;  of  pride,  because  you  will  have  no 
occasion  to  boast.  As  soon  might  Milton's  pen  have  been 
proud  of  writing  the  Paradise  Lost,  as  you  of  what  Christ 
may  have  done  through  you.  **  Shall  the  axe  boast  itself 
against  him  that  heweth  therewith  ?  or  shall  the  saw  mag- 
nify itself  against  him  that  shaketh  it  ?  " 

These  words  apply  to  us  all,  not  less  to  those  whom  God 
has  given  the  ministry  of  suffering  and  pain,  the  care  of 
little  children,  the  daily  round  of  familiar  duty.  In  these 
we  minister  to  Him  who  judges,  not  by  the  character,  but 
by  the  spirit  of  our  work ;  not  by  its  extent,  but  by  its 
depth ;  not  by  results,  but  by  the  spirit  that  animates  and 
inspires. 

In  all  such  there  is  the  certainty  of  the  gracious  co- 
operation of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Whenever  they  stand  up  to 
speak,  the  Spirit  of  God  bears  witness  to  their  words,  so 
that  they  come  with  his  demonstration  to  prepared  hearts. 
Wherever  they  bear  witness,  whether  by  lip  or  life,  the 
results  that  accrue  testify  to  the  presence  and  power  of  a 
mightier  than  they.  And  whenever  they  cross  the  threshold 
of  some  new  soul,  or  home,  or  land,  men  become  aware 
that  the  Gospel  has  come  unto  them,  not  in  word  only,  but 
also  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  much  assur- 
ance. Be  it  ours  so  to  live,  testify,  and  minister,  that  we 
may  be  workmen  not  needing  to  be  ashamed,  good  stew- 
ards of  God's  manifold  grace,  coworkers  with  God,  am- 
bassadors through  whom  God  Himself  may  beseech  men  to 
be  reconciled. 


XX 

"JTn  a  Strait,  mmixt  STttJo" 

(Philippians  i.  23.) 

«  Servant  of  God,  well  done  !     Well  hast  thou  fought 
The  better  fight,  who  single  hast  maintained 
Against  revolted  multitudes  the  cause 
Of  Truth — in  word  mightier  than  they  in  arms— - 
And  for  the  testimony  of  Truth  hast  borne 
Universal  reproach."  MiLTON. 

THROUGH  the  providence  of  God,  and  probably  by 
the  kind  intervention  of  the  centurion — who  had 
conceived  a  sincere  admiration  for  him  during  these  months 
of  travel  together,  and  who,  indeed,  owed  him  his  life — 
Paul,  on  his  arrival  in  Rome,  was  treated  with  great  leni- 
ency. He  was  permitted  to  hire  a  house  or  apartment  in 
the  near  neighborhood  of  the  great  Pretorian  barracks,  and 
live  by  himself,  the  only  sign  of  his  captivity  consisting  in 
the  chain  that  fastened  his  wrist  to  a  Roman  legionary,  the 
soldiers  relieving  each  other  every  four  or  six  hours. 

There  were  many  advantages  in  this  arrangement.  It 
secured  him  from  the  hatred  of  his  people,  and  gave  him  a 
marvellous  opportunity  of  casting  the  seeds  of  the  Gospel 
into  the  head  of  the  rivers  of  population,  that  poured  from 
the  metropolis  throughout  the  known  world.  At  the  same 
time,  it  must  have  been  very  irksome.  Always  to  be  in  the 
presence  of  another,  and  that  other  filled  with  Gentile 
antipathy  to  Jewish  habits  and  Pagan  irresponsiveness  to 
Christian  fervor ;  to  be  able  to  make  no  movement  without 

i8x 


182  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

the  clanking  of  his  chain,  and  the  consent  of  his  custodian  ; 
to  have  to  conduct  his  conferences,  utter  his  prayers,  and 
indite  his  epistles,  beneath  those  stolid  eyes,  or  amid  brutal 
and  blasphemous  interruptions — all  this  must  have  been  ex- 
cessively trying  to  a  sensitive  temperament  like  the  Apos- 
tle's. That  must  have  been  a  hard  and  long  schooling, 
which  had  taught  him  to  be  content  even  with  this,  for  the 
sake  of  the  Gospel.  But  this,  also,  he  could  do  through 
Christ  that  strengthened  him.  And  it  also  turned  out 
greatly  to  the  furtherance  of  the  cause  he  loved.  Many  of 
these  brawny  veterans  became  humble,  earnest  disciples. 
With  a  glow  of  holy  joy,  he  informs  the  Philippians,  that 
his  bonds  in  Christ  have  become  manifest  throughout  the 
whole  Pretorian  guard ;  and  we  know  that  this  was  the  be- 
ginning of  a  movement  destined  within  three  centuries  to 
spread  throughout  the  entire  army,  and  compel  Constantine 
to  adopt  Christianity  as  the  religion  of  the  State.  This 
was  a  blessed  issue  of  that  period  of  suffering  which  so 
often  extorted  the  cry,  **  Remember  my  bonds." 

Three  days  after  his  arrival  in  Rome,  Paul  summoned  to 
his  temporary  lodging  the  leaders  of  the  Jewish  synagogues, 
of  which  there  are  said  to  have  been  seven,  for  the  sixty 
thousand  Jews  who  were  the  objects  of  the  dislike  and  ridi- 
cule of  the  imperial  city.  At  the  first  interview  they  cau- 
tiously occupied  neutral  ground,  and  expressed  the  wish  to 
hear  and  judge  for  themselves,  concerning  the  sect  which 
was  only  known  to  them  as  the  butt  of  universal  execration. 
At  the  second  interview,  after  listening  to  Paul's  explana- 
tions and  appeals  for  an  entire  day,  there  was  the  usual  di- 
vision of  opinion.  '^Some  believed  the  things  that  were 
spoken,  and  some  believed  not."  His  testimony  having 
thus  been  first  offered,  according  to  his  invariable  practice, 
to  his  own  people,  there  was  now  no  further  obstacle  to  his 
addressing  a  wider  audience.     The  message  of  salvation 


**IN  ^  STRAIT,  BETIVIXT  TPVO"  183 

was  sent  to  the  Gentiles,  and  these  would  certainly  hear 
(Acts  xxviii.  28).  We  are  not,  therefore,  surprised  to  be 
told  that  for  the  next  two  years,  whilst  his  accusers  were 
preparing  their  case,  or  the  emperor  was  permitting  shame- 
less indulgence  to  interfere  with  the  discharge  of  public 
business,  **  He  received  all  that  went  in  unto  him,  preach- 
ing the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  the  things  concern- 
ing the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  boldness,  none  forbid- 
ding him." 

It  might  be  said  of  the  Apostle,  as  of  his  Lord,  that  they 
came  to  him  from  every  quarter.  Timothy,  his  son  in  the 
faith;  Mark,  now  *' profitable " ;  Luke,  with  his  quick 
physician's  eye  and  delicate  sympathy ;  Aristarchus,  who 
shared  his  imprisonment,  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity 
of  ministering  to  his  needs;  Tychicus,  from  Ephesus,  *'the 
beloved  brother  and  faithful  minister  in  the  Lord  "  ;  Epa- 
phras,  from  Colossae,  a  **  beloved  fellow-servant,  and  faith- 
ful minister  of  Christ,"  on  the  behalf  of  the  church  there; 
Epaphroditus,  from  Philippi,  who  brought  the  liberal  con- 
tributions of  the  beloved  circle,  that  for  so  many  years  had 
never  ceased  to  remember  their  friend  and  teacher ;  Demas, 
who  had  not  yet  allowed  the  present  to  turn  him  aside  from 
the  eternal  and  unseen — these,  and  others,  are  mentioned  in 
the  postscripts  of  his  Epistles  as  being  with  him.  Members 
of  the  Roman  church  would  always  be  welcomed,  and  must 
have  poured  into  his  humble  lodging  in  a  perpetual  stream ; 
Epaenetus  and  Mary,  Andronicus  and  Junia,  Tryphena  and 
Tryphosa,  Persis  the  beloved,  and  Apelles  the  approved, 
must  often  have  resorted  to  that  apartment,  which  was  ir- 
radiated with  the  perpetual  presence  of  the  Lord.  They 
had  come  to  meet  him  on  his  first  arrival  as  far  as  the  Appii 
Forum  and  the  Three  Taverns,  and  would  not  b^  likely  tp 
neglect  him,  now  he  was  settled  among  them. 

"^htn  "^bat  interest  would  be  aroused  by  the  episodes  ol 


184  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

those  two  years  !  The  illness  of  Epaphroditus,  who  was 
sick  unto  death ;  the  discovery  and  conversion  of  Onesi- 
mus,  the  runaway  slave ;  the  writing  and  despatch  of  the 
Epistles,  which  bear  such  evident  traces  of  the  prison  cell. 
There  could  have  been  no  lack  of  incident,  amid  the  inter- 
est of  which  the  two  years  must  have  sped  by  more  swiftly 
than  the  other  two  years  spent  in  confinement  at  Caesarea. 

It  is  almost  certain  that  Paul  was  acquitted  at  his  first 
trial,  and  liberated,  and  permitted  for  two  or  three  years  at 
least  to  engage  again  in  his  beloved  work.  He  was  evi- 
dently expecting  this,  when,  writing  to  the  Philippians,  he 
said:  **I  myself  am  confident  in  the  Lord,  that  I  myself, 
too,  shall  come  speedily."  In  his  letter  to  Philemon  also, 
he  goes  so  far  as  to  ask  that  a  lodging  may  be  prepared  for 
him,  as  he  hopes  to  be  granted  to  their  prayers.  Universal 
tradition  affirms  an  interspace  of  liberty  between  his  two 
imprisonments;  and  without  this  hypothesis,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  explain  many  of  the  incidental  allusions  of  the 
Epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  which  cannot  refer,  so  far 
as  we  can  see,  to  the  period  that  falls  within  the  compass 
of  the  Acts. 

Whether  his  liberation  were  due  to  the  renewed  offices 
of  the  centurion,  or  to  more  explicit  reports  received  from 
Caesarea,  history  does  not  record ;  but  it  was  by  the  decree 
of  a  greater  than  Nero  that  the  coupling  chain  was  struck 
off  the  Apostle's  wrist,  and  he  was  free  to  go  where  he 
would.  That  he  should  abide  in  the  flesh  was,  in  the  eye 
of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  needful  for  the  further- 
ance and  joy  of  faith  to  the  little  communities  that  looked 
to  him  as  their  father ;  and  their  rejoicing  was  destined  to 
be  more  abundant  in  Jesus  Christ  by  his  coming  to  them 
again. 

Once  more  a  free  man,  Paul  would  certainly  fulfil  his 
intention  of  visiting  Philemon  and  the  church  of  Colossae. 


«/;V  ^  STRAIT,  BETIVIXT  TIVO"  185 

Thence  he  would  make  his  way  to  the  church  at  Ephesus, 
to  hold  further  converse  with  them  on  those  sacred  mysteries 
which  in  his  Epistle  he  had  commenced  to  unfold.  It  was 
probably  during  his  residence  there  that  Onesiphorus  minis- 
tered to  him  with  such  tender  thoughtfulness  as  to  elicit  a 
significant  reference  in  the  last  Epistle  (2  Timothy  i.  18). 
Leaving  Timothy  behind  him  with  the  injunction  to  com- 
mand some  that  they  should  preach  no  other  Gospel  than 
they  had  heard  from  his  lips  (i  Timothy  i.  3),  he  travelled 
onward  to  Macedonia  and  Philippi.  What  a  greeting  must 
have  been  accorded  to  him  there  !  They  were  his  brethren, 
beloved  and  longed  for,  his  joy  and  crown,  whom  he  ever 
held  in  his  heart,  and  who  in  the  defence  and  confirmation 
of  the  Gospel  had  so  deeply  partaken  with  him.  Lydia  and 
Clement,  Euodia  and  Syntyche,  Epaphroditus  and  the  jailer, 
together  with  many  other  fellow-workers,  whose  names  are 
in  the  Book  of  Life,  must  have  gathered  around  to  minister 
to  that  frail,  worn  body,  to  be  inspired  by  that  heroic  soul. 
*From  Philippi  he  must  have  passed  to  other  churches  in 
Greece,  and  amongst  the  rest  to  Corinth.  Finally  he  set 
sail  with  Titus  for  Crete,  where  he  left  him  to  set  in  order 
the  things  that  were  wanting,  and  to  appoint  elders  in  every 
city  (Titus  i.  5).  On  his  return  to  the  mainland  he  wrote 
an  epistle  to  Titus,  from  the  closing  messages  in  which  we 
gather  that  he  was  about  to  winter  at  Nicopolis  surrounded 
by  several  friends,  such  as  Artemas,  Zenas,  Tychicus,  and 
Apollos,  who  were  inspired  with  his  own  spirit,  and  were 
gladly  assisting  him  in  strengthening  the  organization  and 
purifying  the  teaching  in  these  young  churches,  each  of 
which  had  possibly  to  pass  through  some  such  phases  of 
doctrinal  and  practical  difficulty  as  are  reflected  in  the  mir- 
ror of  the  Epistles  to  Corinth  (i  Cor.  iii.  12,  13). 

This  blessed  liberty,  however,  was  summarily  cut  short. 
One  of  the  most  terrible  events  in  the  history  of  the  ancient 


186  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

world — the  burning  of  Rome — took  place  in  the  year  a.d. 
64 ;  and  to  divert  from  himself  the  suspicion  which  indi- 
cated him  as  its  author,  Nero  accused  the  Christians  of 
being  the  incendiaries.  Immediately  the  fierce  flames  of 
the  first  general  persecution  broke  out.  Those  who  were 
resident  in  the  metropolis,  and  who  must  have  been  well 
known  and  dear  to  the  Apostle,  were  seized  and  subjected 
to  horrible  barbarities,  whilst  a  strict  search  was  made 
throughout  the  empire  for  their  leaders,  the  Jews  abetting 
the  inquisitors.  It  was  not  likely  that  so  eminent  a  Chris- 
tian as  the  Apostle  would  escape.  The  storm  that  sweeps 
the  forest  will  smite  first  and  most  destructively  the  loftiest 
trees. 

He  was  staying  for  a  time  at  Troas,  in  the  house  of 
Carpus,  where  he  had  arrived  from  Nicopolis.  His  arrest 
was  so  sudden  that  he  had  not  time  to  gather  up  his  precious 
books  and  parchments,  which  may  have  included  copies  of 
his  Epistles,  a  Hebrew  Bible,  and  some  early  copies  of  the 
sayings  of  our  Lord ;  or  to  wrap  around  him  the  cloak 
which  had  been  his  companion  in  many  a  wintry  storm. 
Thence  he  was  hurried  to  Rome. 

A  little  group  of  friends  accompanied  him,  with  faithful 
tenacity,  in  this  last  sad  journey.  Demas  and  Crescens, 
Titus  and  Tychicus,  Luke  and  Erastus.  But  Erastus  abode 
at  Corinth,  through  which  the  little  band  may  have  passed; 
and  Trophimus  fell  ill  at  Miletus,  and  had  to  be  left  there, 
as  the  Roman  guard  would  brook  no  delay.  So,  for  the 
second  time,  Paul  reached  Rome. 

But  the  circumstances  of  his  second  imprisonment  differed 
widely  from  those  of  the  first.  Then  he  had  his  own  hired 
house;  now  he  was  left  in  close  confinement,  and  tradition 
points  to  the  Mamertine  prison  as  the  scene  of  his  last  weeks 
or  months.  Then  he  was  easily  accessible ;  now  Onesiphorus 
had  to  seek  him  out  very  diligently,  and  it  took  some  cour- 


«/A^  c/7  STRAIT,  BETIVIXT  TIVO''  187 

age  not  to  be  ashamed  of  his  chain.  Then  he  was  the  centre 
of  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  sympathizers ;  now  the  win- 
nowing fan  of  trouble  had  greatly  thinned  their  ranks,  whilst 
others  had  been  despatched  on  distant  missions.  *'Only 
Luke  is  with  me,"  is  the  rather  sad  expression  of  the  old 
man's  loneliness.  Then  he  cherished  a  bright  hope  of  speedy 
liberation ;  now,  though  he  had  successfully  met  the  first  im- 
peachment, which  was  probably  one  of  incendiarism,  and  had 
been  delivered  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  lion,  he  had  no  hope 
of  meeting  the  second,  which  would  include  the  general 
charge  of  introducing  new  customs  hostile  to  the  stability 
of  the  imperial  government.  Its  very  vagueness  made  it 
so  hard  to  combat,  and  it  was  inevitable  that  he  should  be 
caught  within  its  meshes. 

He  was  already  being  poured  out  as  a  libation,  and  the 
time  had  come  for  his  loosing  the  anchor  and  setting  sail. 
But  it  caused  him  no  sorrow.  In  earlier  days  he  had  greatly 
set  his  heart  on  being  clothed  upon  with  the  body  that  was 
from  heaven,  and  on  being  suddenly  caught  up  to  be  forever 
with  the  Lord.  It  seemed  unlikely  now  that  such  would  be 
the  method  of  his  transition  to  that  rest  of  which  he  had 
spoken  so  pathetically.  Not  by  the  triumphant  path  of  the 
air,  but  by  the  darksome  path  of  death  and  the  grave,  would 
he  pass  into  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  It  was,  however,  a 
matter  of  small  importance  what  would  be  the  method  of 
his  home-going;  he  was  only  too  thankful,  on  his  review 
of  his  career,  to  say  humbly  and  truthfully,  "  I  have  striven 
the  good  strife,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the 
faith ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  right- 
eousness." 

How  characteristic  it  is  to  find  him  boasting  of  the  great 
audience  of  Gentiles,  to  whom,  at  the  first  stage  of  his  trial, 
he  was  able  fully  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  message.  It  is 
equally  characteristic  to  hear  him  affirm  that  the  ease  and 


188  PAUL:  Ji  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

success  of  his  witness  bearing  was  due,  not  to  himself,  but 
to  the  conscious  nearness  of  his  Lord,  who  stood  by  and 
strengthened  him. 

What  were  the  following  processes  of  that  trial?  How 
long  was  he  kept  in  suspense?  Did  Timothy  arrive  in 
time  to  see  him,  and  to  be  with  him  at  the  last  supreme 
moment  ?  What  was  the  exact  method  of  his  martyrdom  ? 
To  these  questions  there  is  no  certain  reply.  Tradition 
points  to  a  spot,  about  three  miles  from  Rome,  on  the  Ostian 
road,  where,  at  the  stroke  of  the  headsman's  axe,  he  was 
beheaded,  and  his  spirit  leaving  its  frail  tenement,  entered 
the  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

But  how  vast  the  contrast  between  that  scene,  which  may 
have  excited  but  little  interest,  save  to  the  friends  that  min- 
gled in  the  little  group,  and  that  other  scene,  in  which  an 
abundant  entrance  was  ministered  to  this  noble  spirit,  as  it 
entered  the  presence  of  the  Lord  !  If  Christ  arose  to  re- 
ceive Stephen,  may  He  not  also  have  stood  up  to  welcome 
Paul  ?  Again  he  beheld  the  face  that  had  looked  down  on 
him  from  the  opened  heavens  at  his  conversion,  and  heard 
the  voice  that  had  called  him  by  his  name.  His  long-cher- 
ished wish  of  being  "with  Christ"  was  gratified,  and  he 
found  it  *'  far  better  "  than  he  had  ever  thought. 

His  was  now  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,  of 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  had  been  the  earnest  and  first-fruits. 
He  had  passed  the  goal,  and  had  attained  to  the  prize  of  his 
high  calling  in  Christ.  He  had  been  found  in  Christ,  not 
having  his  own  righteousness,  but  the  righteousness  which 
is  of  God  by  faith.  No  castaway  was  he  !  As  he  had  kept 
Christ's  deposit,  so  Christ  had  kept  his.  And  as  he  gave 
in  the  account  of  his  stewardship,  who  can  doubt  that  the 
Lord  greeted  him  with,  **  Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

What  a  festal   welcome   he   must   have  received   from 


''IN  ^  STRAIT,  BETIVIXT  TPVO"  189 

thousands  whom  he  had  turned  from  darkness  to  light, 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  and  who  were  now  to 
become  his  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  ! 
These  from  the  highlands  of  Galatia,  and  those  from  the 
seaboard  of  Asia  Minor.  These  from  Judaistic  prejudice, 
and  those  from  the  depths  of  Gentile  depravity  and  sin. 
These  from  the  degraded  slave  populations,  and  those  from 
the  ranks  of  the  high-born  and  educated.  Nor  have  such 
greetings  ceased ;  but  through  all  the  centuries  that  have 
succeeded  there  are  comparatively  few  that  have  passed 
along  *'  the  Way  to  the  Celestial  City  "  who  have  not  had 
to  acknowledge  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  him  who,  of  all 
others,  was  enabled  to  give  a  clearer  apprehension  of  the 
Divine  method  of  justifying  and  saving  sinners. 

What  share  the  blessed  ones  within  the  vail  may  have  in 
hastening  the  Second  Advent  we  cannot  tell.  But,  surely, 
among  those  who  eagerly  anticipate  that  hour  when  the 
Bridegroom  shall  present  the  Church  to  Himself,  without 
spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,  there  is  none  more  eager 
than  he,  who  looked  so  constantly,  even  to  the  end,  for  the 
blessed  hope,  the  appearance  of  the  glorious  Saviour,  and 
who  did  so  much  to  prepare  the  Church  for  her  Lord  ! 
And,  among  the  stones  of  the  foundations  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  on  which  are  written  the  names  of  the  twelve 
Apostles  of  the  Lamb,  will  surely  be  found  at  last  that  of 
Saul,  also  called  Paul,  who  was  before  a  blasphemer,  a 
persecutor,  and  injurious,  but  who  obtained  mercy  and  was 
counted  faithful. 


XXI 

"§otD  Carge  Cettcrs** 

(Galatians  vi.  II.) 

-  All  his  glowing  language  issued  forth 
With  God's  deep  stamp  upon  its  current  worth." 

COWPER. 

IT  has  been  supposed,  with  much  show  of  reason,  that  at 
the  close  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  the  Apostle 
took  the  pen  from  the  hand  of  his  amanuensis  and  wrote 
somewhat  more  than  his  usual  brief  autograph.  Generally  he 
contented  himself  with  such  words  as  those  with  which  the 
Epistle  to  the  Colossians  closes,  **  The  salutation  of  me, 
Paul,  with  mine  own  hand.  Remember  my  bonds.  Grace 
be  with  you."  But  in  the  case  of  the  Galatians,  among 
whom  his  authority  had  been  greatly  impugned,  it  seemed 
incumbent  to  give  rather  more  emphasis  and  importance  to 
his  words  by  a  prolonged  personal  closing  paragraph.  He 
practically  begs  them  excuse  the  clumsy  shape  and  appear- 
ance of  his  handwriting,  on  account  of  his  defective  sight ; 
to  which  he  may  also  be  alluding  when  he  touchingly 
describes  himself  as  branded  with  the  marks  of  Jesus 
(Gal.  vi.   17). 

We  may  take  his  words  also  in  a  metaphorical  sense. 
How  largely  his  letters  bulk  in  the  make-up  of  the  New 
Testament !  If  we  judge  the  question  only  by  comparing 
their  length  with  that  of  the  New  Testament,  we  shall  find 
that  they  make  a  fourth  part  of  the  whole.  And  their  im- 
portance must  be  measured  not  by  length  but  by  weight. 

190 


'MOIV  LARGE  LETTERS''  Idl 

Before  you  put  them  into  the  scale,  consider  the  precious 
treasures  you  are  handling.  The  sublime  chapter  on  Love, 
I  Corinthians  xiii.;  the  matchless  argument  on  Justification 
in  Romans  iv.,  v. ;  the  glorious  exposition  of  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  Romans  viii.;  the  triumphant  Resurrec- 
tion Hope  of  I  Corinthians  xv.;  the  tender  unveiling  of 
the  Love  between  Jesus  and  his  own  in  Ephesians  v. — what 
priceless  treasures  are  these  which  the  Church  owes  first  to 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  next  to  the  Apostle  Paul,  acting  as  his 
organ  and  instrument.  How  many  of  the  most  precious 
and  helpful  passages  in  Scripture  bear  the  mark  of  the  ten- 
der, eager,  fervent,  and  devout  spirit  of  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles. 

The  Epistles  marvellously  reflect  his  personality.  It  has 
been  said  of  one  of  the  great  painters  that  he  was  wont  to 
mix  his  colors  with  blood  drawn  from  a  secret  wound;  and 
of  Paul  it  may  be  said  that  he  dipped  his  pen  in  the  blood 
of  his  heart.  Whatever  impression  had  last  rested  on  his 
sensitive  nature  colored  the  flow  of  his  thoughts  and  ex- 
pressions, whether  it  was  Philippian  love  expressed  by  the 
coming  of  Epaphroditus,  or  the  story  of  the  Corinthian 
division  told  by  the  members  of  the  house  of  Chloe.  Prob- 
ably it  is  for  this  very  reason,  because  he  wrote  with  all  the 
freshness  of  speech,  with  the  sparkle  of  conversation,  as 
though  he  were  talking  naturally  in  a  circle  of  friends,  that 
he  has  so  moved  the  heart  of  the  world. 

But  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  humanly  speaking,  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  would  never  have  taken  such  fast  hold  on 
the  strong,  practical,  vigorous  nations  of  the  West,  had  it 
not  been  for  these  Epistles.  The  mind  of  the  Apostle  John 
is  given  to  deep  and  spiritual  insight,  which  sees,  rather 
than  argues,  its  way  into  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  The 
mind  of  the  Apostle  Peter,  again,  is  specially  Hebraic  :  he 
looks  at  everything  from  the  standpoint  of  his  early  edu- 


192  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

cation  and  training,  on  which  the  teachings  of  his  Master 
had  been  grafted.  But  with  Paul,  though  he  writes  as  a 
Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  employing  methods  of  Scripture 
interpretation,  which,  being  in  the  method  of  the  Rabbis, 
are  recondite  and  unfamiliar  to  our  thought,  yet  his  Epistles 
are  characterized  by  a  virility,  a  logical  order,  a  style  of 
argument,  a  definiteness  of  statement  and  phraseology, 
which  are  closely  akin  to  our  Western  civilization.  When 
he  was  born  the  Roman  Empire  was  in  the  summer  of  its 
glory,  and  Greek  culture  so  infused  into  the  universal 
thought  and  speech,  that  even  the  exclusivism  and  bigotry 
of  the  Jewish  ghettos  were  not  wholly  proof  against  it. 
The  breath  of  the  Western  ocean  is  in  these  Epistles ;  the 
tides  of  the  coming  centuries  were  already  rolling  into  the 
estuary,  and  causing  the  barges  of  long  stationary  tradition 
to  move  uneasily  and  rattle  their  mooring  chains.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  Paul  has  been  the  contemporary  of  Western 
civilization  through  all  the  centuries.  It  was  he  who  taught 
Augustine  and  inspired  Luther.  His  thoughts  and  concep- 
tions have  been  wrought  into  the  texture,  and  woven  into 
the  woof  of  the  foremost  minds  of  the  Christian  centuries. 
The  seeds  he  scattered  have  fruited  in  the  harvests  of  mod- 
ern education,  jurisprudence,  liberty,  and  civilization. 

'*  Ah  !  "  it  has  been  eloquently  said,  "what  does  the 
world  owe  to  this  Apostle ;  what  has  it  owed  to  him ;  what 
will  it  owe :  of  pious  pastors,  zealous  missionaries,  eminent 
Christians,  useful  books,  benevolent  endowments,  examples 
of  faith,  charity,  purity,  holiness?  Who  can  calculate  it  ? 
The  whole  human  race  will  arise  and  confess  that  amongst 
all  the  names  of  its  benefactors  whom  it  is  pleased  to  enroll 
from  age  to  age,  there  is  no  one  whom  it  proclaims  with  so 
much  harmony,  gratitude  and  love,  as  the  name  of  the 
Apostle  Paul." 

We  have  thirteen  Letters  bearing  the  inscription  and  sig- 


"//O^  LARGE  LETTERS'*  193 

nature  of  Paul.  The  evidence  of  their  genuineness  and 
authenticity  is  generally  admitted ;  even  the  extreme  school 
of  destructive  criticism  has  been  compelled  to  admit  that 
the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  Galatians,  and  Romans  are 
undoubtedly  his.  They  were  written  at  different  periods 
between  the  years  52  and  68  a.  d.;  and  under  very  different 
circumstances.  These  when  hope  was  young  and  fresh  in 
the  first  glad  dawn ;  these  amid  the  stress  of  strong  antag- 
onism ;  these  with  the  shackles  of  the  prison  on  the  wrist ; 
these  when  the  sun  was  dyeing  the  horizon  with  its  last 
intense  glow.  Each  largely  tinctured  with  the  complexion 
of  the  worlds  without  and  within,  but  all  full  of  that  devo- 
tion to  the  risen  Lord  which  led  him  to  subscribe  himself 
so  often  as  his  devoted  bond  servant.  *'  Paul,  the  bond 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Let  us  place  these  Epistles  in  the  order  of  their  compo- 
sition, and  see  how  they  mark  the  successive  stages  of 
progress  in  the  Apostle's  conceptions  of  Christ.  He  was 
always  full  of  Love  and  Loyalty  and  the  Divine  Spirit ;  but 
according  to  his  own  words  he  was  perpetually  leaving  the 
things  that  were  behind  and  pressing  on  to  those  before, 
that  he  might  know  Christ,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings.  It  is  not  surpris- 
ing, therefore,  that  each  of  the  Epistles  contains  some 
profounder  apprehension  of  the  fulness  and  glory  of  the 
risen  Lord.  As  Jesus  is  said  to  have  increased  in  wisdom 
and  age,  so  his  Apostle  was  transformed  into  his  image 
from  glory  to  glory.  All  his  life  was  a  going  from  strength 
to  strength.  And  as  he  climbed  the  craggy  steeps  of  obedi- 
ence and  faith,  of  growing  likeness  to  Jesus,  of  self-sacrifice 
and  experience  of  the  cross,  his  horizon  of  knowledge 
widened  to  tread  the  lengths  and  heights  and  depths  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  love  of  Christ,  which  still  passed  his 
knowledge.     We  have  only  to  compare  the  first  Epistle  Xq 


194  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

the  Thessalonians  with  that  of  the  Ephesians,  to  perceive 
at  once  how  greatly  this  noble  nature  had  filled  out  and 
ripened  under  the  culture  of  the  Divine  husbandman. 

The  best  and  most  natural  division  of  the  Epistles,  that  I 
have  met  with,  is  the  following : 

The  Eschatological  Group  :  i  and  2  Thessalonians. 

The  Anti-Judaic  Group  :  i  and  2  Corinthians,  Galatians, 
Romans. 

The  Chris fological,  or  Anti-  Gnostic  Group  :  Philippians, 
Colossians,  Philemon,  Ephesians. 

The  Pastoral  Group:  i  Timothy,  Titus,  and  2  Timothy. 

Let  us  consider  them  in  this  order. 

I  and  2  Thessalonians. — The  first  of  these  was  probably 
written  towards  the  close  of  the  year  52,  and  certainly  from 
Corinth.  Timothy  had  been  left  in  Macedonia  to  complete 
the  work  from  which  the  Apostle  had  been  so  summarily 
torn.  After  doing  all  he  could  to  comfort  and  help  the 
infant  churches,  he  came  with  Silas  to  Paul,  and  the  three 
held  solemn  and  prayerful  conferences  on  the  best  way  of 
directing  and  assisting  the  disciples  amid  the  great  storm 
of  opposition  through  which  they  were  passing.  It  was 
impossible  for  any  of  them  to  go  to  their  relief,  and  so  this 
first  Epistle  was  despatched.  And  the  second  from  the 
same  city,  a  few  months  afterwards,  when  the  Apostle 
heard  that  the  first  had  been  interpreted  to  mean  that  the 
Lord's  coming  was  near  enough  to  justify  the  expectation 
of  the  speedy  dissolution  of  existing  society. 

In  each  of  these  Epistles,  the  Apostle  dwells  more  largely 
than  in  any  of  the  others  on  the  Second  Advent.  Its  light 
was  illuminating  his  whole  being  with  its  glow.  The  motive 
for  every  duty,  the  incitement  to  every  Christian  disposi- 
tion, the  ground  for  purity,  hopefulness,  comfort,  and 
practical  virtue,  ^re  found  in  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God. 


**HOlV  LARGE  LETTERS''  195 

"The  Lord  Himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a 
shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump 
of  God ;  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first ;  then  we 
which  are  alive  and  remain  shall  be  caught  up." 

The  motive  for  Christian  living  is  less  in  the  sense  of  the 
indwelling  Christ  and  more  in  the  expectation  of  the  com- 
ing Christ :  there  is  less  of  the  cross,  and  more  of  the  glory ; 
less  of  the  invisible  headship  over  all  things  in  heaven  and 
earth,  which  comes  out  so  prominently  in  later  Epistles, 
and  more  of  the  parousia,  the  personal  presence  of  Jesus. 
To  the  end  the  Apostle  bade  the  Church  stand  at  her  oriel 
window,  looking  for  the  coming  of  the  glory  of  her  great 
God  and  Saviour ;  but  the  ground  covered  by  his  later 
Epistles  is  much  wider  than  that  of  his  earliest. 

I  Corinthians. — Towards  the  end  of  Paul's  three  years* 
residence  in  Ephesus,  tidings  came,  partly  through  Apollos 
and  partly  through  members  of  the  house  of  Chloe,  of  the 
very  unfavorable  condition  of  affairs  at  Corinth.  Amid  the 
strongly  sensuous  influences  of  that  voluptuous  city  the  little 
band  of  converts  seemed  on  the  point  of  yielding  to  the 
strong  current  setting  against  them,  and  relapsing  into  the 
vices  of  their  contemporaries.  Shortly  after  this  a  letter 
arrived  from  the  Church  itself,  brought  to  Ephesus  by 
Stephanas,  Fortunatus,  and  Achaicus,  asking  advice  on  a 
number  of  practical  difficulties.  It  was  a  terrible  revelation 
of  quarrels,  disputings,  inconsistencies,  and  grosser  evils, 
and  was  enough  to  daunt  any  man.  How  could  he  hope 
to  remedy  such  a  state  of  things  without  going  in  person  ? 
And  if  he  went,  how  would  he  be  received  ?  At  that  time 
he  was  pressed  with  the  terrible  conflict  which  was  being 
waged  at  Ephesus,  and  he  must  stay  at  his  post.  There 
was  nothing  for  it  but  to  write  as  the  Holy  Spirit  might 
direct ;  and  the  result  is  the  marvellous  Epistle,  which  more 


196  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

than  any  other  has  supplied  practical  direction  to  the 
Church  in  the  following  centuries,  showing  her  how  to 
apply  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  to  the  most  complicated 
moral  and  social  problems.  It  was  carried  to  Corinth  by 
Titus.  In  this  Epistle  there  is  still  the  pulse  throb  of  the 
Second  Advent ;  but  there  is,  in  addition,  the  sublime 
conception  of  the  Second  Adam,  and  the  revelation  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  now  and  here,  to  spiritual  minds,  of  things 
which  eye  had  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the  heart  of 
man  conceived. 

2  Corinthians. — When  the  riot  broke  out  in  Ephesus, 
the  Apostle  was  eagerly  looking  for  the  coming  of  Titus 
with  tidings  of  the  reception  of  his  Epistle.  On  his  expul- 
sion from  the  city  he  went  to  Troas,  making  sure  that  he 
would  meet  him  there;  but  failing  to  do  so,  he  became 
feverishly  anxious,  and  hastened  on  to  Macedonia  to  seek 
him.  He  was  afflicted  on  every  side  :  "  without  were  fight- 
ings, within  were  fears,"  till  he  was  finally  comforted  by 
the  coming  of  Titus,  who  brought  good  news  as  he  told  of 
their  longing,  their  mourning,  their  zeal  for  him.  There- 
upon he  wrote  his  second  Epistle,  and  sent  it  to  the 
Church  by  the  hands  of  Titus  and  another. 

This  is  the  most  personal  of  all  his  Epistles.  He  lays 
bare  his  heart ;  he  permits  us  to  see  its  yearning  tenderness, 
its  sensitiveness  to  love  or  hate,  its  eager  devotion  to  the 
best  interests  of  his  converts.  *'  All  things  are  for  your 
sakes  ...  for  which  cause  we  faint  not."  The  deep 
spiritual  aspects  of  the  Christian  life,  which  are  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  later  Epistles,  are  specially  unfolded.  He 
writes  as  though,  under  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he 
were  enjoying  increasing  measures  of  the  life  hid  with  Christ 
in  God.  Though  he  was  always  delivered  unto  death  for 
Jesus'  sake,  the  life  of  Jesus,  which  was  in  him,  was  mani- 


HOIV  LARGE  LETTERS''  197 

festing  itself  in  his  mortal  flesh  (iv.  ii).  He  now  knew 
Christ,  not  after  the  flesh,  but  in  the  spirit ;  the  constraint 
of  his  love  was  perpetually  leading  to  the  denial  of  self,  and 
the  putting  on  of  that  new  creation  which  was  the  gift  of 
the  risen  Lord  (v.  14-17).  Whatever  the  difficulties  and 
privations  of  his  lot,  he  was  amply  compensated  from  the 
eternal  and  spiritual  sphere  in  which  he  lived  (vi.  4-10). 
What  though  the  stake  in  the  flesh  cost  him  continual 
anguish,  the  grace  of  Jesus  made  him  glory  in  it,  as  posi- 
tively a  source  of  strength  (xii.  10). 

Galatians. — Paul  followed  Titus  to  Corinth,  and  re- 
mained there  a  happy  three  months.  But  the  joy  of  fellow- 
ship with  the  large  and  happy  band  of  friends  that  gathered 
around  him  there  must  have  been  greatly  blurred  by  tidings 
of  the  fickleness  of  the  Galatians,  who  were  removing 
*'  from  him  that  had  called  them  into  the  grace  of  Christ 
unto  another  gospel,"  Proselytizers  had  gone  amongst  his 
converts  professing  to  represent  the  Church  at  Jerusalem, 
and  in  the  name  of  primitive  Christianity  had  disparaged 
Paul's  apostleship,  questioned  his  authority,  and  insisted  on 
the  necessity  of  Gentiles  being  circumcised  and  submitting 
to  the  Levitical  law. 

It  was  a  critical  hour.  If  these  views  had  prevailed, 
Christianity  must  have  dwindled  into  a  Jewish  sect,  and  the 
river  of  Christian  life  and  work  which  had  gushed  from  the 
ground  at  Pentecost  must  have  lost  itself  among  the  sands 
of  Rabbinical  speculation.  Gentile  Christianity  was  in  the 
balance;  the  hope  of  the  world  at  stake.  Profoundly 
stirred  in  spirit,  the  Apostle's  righteous  indignation  flames 
in  almost  every  sentence,  and  with  glowing  passion  he  meets 
the  arguments  of  those  who  were  seducing  the  Galatians 
from  the  simplicity  and  freedom  of  Christ;  **  As  we  said 
before,  so  say  I  now  again,  if  any  man  preach  any  other 


198  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

gospel  unto  you  than  that  ye  have  received,  let  him  be 
accursed." 

Under  the  glow  of  his  indignation  there  is  not  only  clear 
and  strong  thinking,  but  there  is  indication  of  yet  further 
regions  of  Christian  knowledge  which  were  being  unfolded 
to  Paul.  Pressed  by  the  exigencies  of  his  position — and 
how  often  the  arising  of  new  heresies  has  driven  God's 
servants  deeper  into  the  fulness  treasured  in  Christ  for  all 
needs  and  times — he  is  led  to  realize  that  not  Moses  but 
Abraham,  not  Sinai  but  the  tents  of  the  patriarch,  were  the 
true  origin  of  the  Jewish  people.  Abraham  was  called  when 
yet  in  uncircumcision ;  he  believed,  and  was  justified  by 
faith  thirty  years  before  he  received  the  distinctive  Jewish 
rite.  It  was  as  great  a  revelation  as  the  shores  of  the  New 
World  to  Columbus ;  and  from  that  moment  Paul  sprang  up 
to  an  altogether  new  position,  from  which  he  was  able  suc- 
cessfully to  meet  the  assaults  of  the  Judaizer,  and  vindicate 
all  believing  Gentiles  as  children  of  believing  Abraham,  and 
heirs  of  the  covenant  of  promise. 

Romans. — As  his  stay  at  Corinth  drew  to  a  close,  the 
Apostle's  mind  was  attracted  to  the  church  in  the  world's 
metropolis,  which  he  hoped  very  soon  to  visit ;  and  by  way 
of  preparation  for  his  coming  he  prepared  a  succinct  and 
connected  view  of  the  truths  which  had  been  revealed  to  his 
profoundest  thought  by  the  Divine  Spirit.  Thus  originated 
the  greatest  of  his  Epistles,  that  to  the  Romans. 

In  this,  as  in  the  former,  there  is  not  only  a  clear  appre- 
ciation and  presentation  of  the  great  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith,  but  an  ever-enlarging  view  of  our  identification 
with  Christ,  and  of  his  indwelling.  He  says  we  were 
reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son,  but  we  are 
saved  by  his  life.  He  speaks  of  reigning  in  life  through  the 
abundance  of  grace  treasured  up  in  the  one  Man,  Jesus 


"//OAT  LARGE  LETTERS''  199 

Christ.  His  words  glow  with  rapture  as  he  speaks  of  being 
joined  to  Him  that  was  raised  from  the  dead,  and  of  our 
freedom  from  the  old  bondage  in  which  we  were  held.  So 
entirely  had  Christ  become  one  with  him,  and  he  one  with 
Christ,  that  he  felt  the  unutterable  groans  of  His  interces- 
sions, and  something  of  His  travail  for  the  souls  of  men. 
He  had  yielded  his  members  as  weapons  in  his  mighty  war- 
fare against  sin ;  had  been  crucified  with  Christ,  and  now 
no  longer  lived,  but  Christ  lived  in  him.  His  life  was  one 
of  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  him  and  gave  Him- 
self for  him.  The  cross  was  the  means,  not  of  justification 
only,  but  of  sanctification,  and  stood  between  him  and  his 
past ;  while  by  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Son  of  God  had  become 
resident  and  regnant  within  him. 

Philippians. — There  is  nothing  polemical  in  this  epistle. 
The  former  epistles  have  met  and  silenced  his  detractors 
and  enemies.  The  strife  and  divisions  of  the  churches, 
if  such  there  were,  do  not  reach  him  through  the  prison 
doors,  or  traverse  the  distance  to  his  Roman  abode.  The 
peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  understanding  keeps  his 
mind  and  heart,  and  out  of  that  tranquil  heart  pours  forth 
a  tide  of  deep  and  tender  love  to  his  beloved  friends  at 
Philippi. 

The  hope  of  being  alive  at  the  coming  of  the  Lord  is 
still  his  heart's  guiding  star.  His  citizenship  was  in  heaven, 
whence  he  looked  for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
but  the  possibility  that  perhaps  the  Lord  might  have  to  be 
magnified  by  his  death  had  already  presented  itself  to  his 
mind.  He  saw,  however,  that  the  will  of  God  was  best, 
and  learned  from  his  Master  the  secret  of  self-sacrificing 
humility.  Epaphroditus  had  brought  gifts  of  love  from 
Philippi,  and  by  his  hands  this  letter  of  love  and  gratitude 
was  returned. 


200  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  fESUS  CHRIST 

CoLOSSiANs. — Among  those  who  visited  Paul  in  his  hired 
house,  towards  the  end  of  his  detention  in  Rome,  was 
Epaphras  of  Colossse,  who  also  represented  Laodicsea  and 
Hierapolis — cities  of  Asia  Minor  in  the  valley  of  the  Lycus. 
He  told  the  Apostle  of  a  strange  new  heresy,  which  was 
developing  with  alarming  rapidity  in  the  churches  that  had 
been  planted  in  those  distant  cities. 

The  falsely-called  Christian  philosophy  of  the  time  was 
endeavoring  to  fill  the  gulf  between  sinful  man  and  the  holy 
God  by  a  ladder  of  mythical  existences,  through  which 
man's  prayers  might  ascend  to  God  and  his  blessing 
descend  on  man.  The  whole  conception  was  entirely 
imaginary,  and  in  its  furthest  reach  must  fail  of  its  object ; 
for  between  the  loftiest  archangel  or  spirit  and  the  eternal 
God  there  is  still  the  infinite  chasm  which  sunders  the 
creature  from  the  Creator,  and  is  impassable  unless  the 
Creator  come  across  it. 

The  necessity  of  dealing  with  this  absurd  tissue  of  the 
imagination  was  used  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  unveil  a 
wider,  deeper  view  of  the  fulness  that  there  is  in  Jesus ;  and 
a  disclosure  was  made  to  the  Apostle  of  the  full  meaning 
of  the  Lord's  ascension  to  the  right  hand  of  power.  He 
saw  that  all  principalities  and  powers,  all  creature  exist- 
ences, all  beings  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  under  the  earth, 
were  beneath  his  feet.  He  was  Lord  and  King,  ruling  all, 
filling  all,  maintaining  all.  **  In  Him  were  all  things 
created,  in  the  heavens  and  upon  the  earth,  things  visible 
and  things  invisible,  whether  thrones,  or  dominions,  or 
principalities,  or  powers,  all  things  have  been  created 
through  Him,  and  unto  Him:  and  He  is  before  all  things, 
and  in  Him  all  things  consist.  .  .  .  And  ye  are  complete 
in  Him,  who  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power" 
(Col.  i.  i6,  R.v.  ;  ii.  lo). 

At  the  same  time,  his  conviction  of  his  union  with  the 


»HOPV  LARGE  LETTERS''  201 

risen  Lord  was  ever  more  definite,  and  his  appreciation 
of  his  indwelling  more  full  of  hope  and  glory.  What  did 
it  matter  if  he  was  called  upon  to  fill  up  what  was  behind 
of  the  sufferings?  Had  it  not  been  given  him  to  make 
known  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery  among  the 
Gentiles,  which  is  Christ  in  the  heart,  the  hope  of  glory  ? 
Tychicus  bore  this  letter  and  that  to  the  Ephesians. 

Philemon. — Onesimus,  the  runaway  slave,  fugitive  from 
his  master  Philemon,  driven  by  want  to  the  Apostle's  house 
or  discovered  in  some  low  haunt  of  crime  by  his  com- 
panions in  their  errands  of  mercy,  had  been  begotten  to  a 
new  life,  and  was  now  not  a  slave  only,  but  a  brother 
beloved.  Paul  sent  him  back  to  his  master,  who  was  a 
friend  of  his,  and  with  whom  he  seems  to  have  had  a 
business  account  (vv.  i8,  19).  This  Epistle,  which  is  a 
perfect  model  of  Christian  courtesy,  was  given  him  as  an 
introduction  to  his  owner. 

The  chief  point  to  notice  here  is  the  perfect  patience 
and  certainty  with  which  the  Apostle  awaits  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  divine  love.  He  must  have  felt  that  in  the 
sight  of  God,  Onesimus  had  a  perfect  right  to  freedom; 
but  it  would  have  been  highly  impolitic  for  him  to  interfere 
between  master  and  man.  Let  Philemon  be  taught  to  look 
at  Onesimus  as  joined  to  him  in  the  Gospel,  it  would  not 
be  long  before  he  would  himself  propose  his  emancipation. 
But  till  he  did,  Paul  would  not  precipitate  matters,  and 
Onesimus  must  return  to  serve.  The  principle  of  action  in 
this  single  instance  doubtless  became  the  ultimate  law  for 
the  solution  of  many  other  difficult  problems,  which  were 
left  to  the  gradual  conquest  of  the  spirit  of  love. 

Ephesians. — This  Epistle  reiterates  the  great  conceptions 
of  the   empire  of  the  Lord   Jesus,  and  of  his  ability  to 


202  PAUL:  Jl  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

fill  the  whole  gulf  between  God  and  man,  which  the 
former  Epistle  had  foreshadowed.  The  doctrine  of 
identification  with  Christ,  in  his  death,  resurrection,  and 
ascension,  is  set  forth  with  remarkable  vividness  and  power. 
The  conception  of  the  Church  as  the  Body  and  Bride 
of  Christ  is  elaborated  with  peculiar  beauty  of  detail. 
But  the  commanding  peculiarity  of  this  Epistle  is  its 
allusion  to  the  home  life  of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and 
child,  master  and  slave. 

In  earlier  days,  on  account  of  the  present  distress,  and 
without  the  distinct  assurance  of  Inspiration,  the  Apostle 
had  spoken  as  though  the  difficulties  of  married  life  pre- 
ponderated over  its  sweets  (i  Cor.  vii.)  ;  but  in  these  later 
Epistles  he  holds  it  up  as  the  model  of  the  love  which 
subsists  between  the  Heavenly  Bridegroom  and  His  own  : 
and,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  his  time,  he  goes  so  far  as 
to  assert  that  the  true  bond  of  marriage  is  the  self- 
sacrifice  of  the  stronger  for  the  weaker — of  the  husband  for 
the  wife.  Woman  was  no  longer  to  be  the  slave  or  toy  of 
man ;  but  men  were  to  be  prepared  to  give  themselves  for 
their  wives  in  loving  acts  of  unselfishness,  as  Christ  loved 
the  Church  and  gave  Himself  for  it. 

I  Timothy  and  Titus. — After  his  release,  Paul  visited 
the  scenes  of  his  former  ministry  around  the  shores  of  the 
.^gean ;  and  it  was  during  his  journeys  at  this  time  that 
he  indited  these  Epistles  to  direct  the  young  evangelists  in 
the  right  ordering  of  the  churches  under  their  care.  They 
are  of  extreme  interest  because  dealing  with  so  many 
domestic  and  practical  details.  He  is  never  weary  of 
showing  that  the  great  principles  of  the  Gospel  are  meant 
to  elevate  the  commoner  incidents  and  duties  of  life. 
''Godliness  has  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is."  "The 
grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation  hath  appeared  unto  all 


'*HOlV  LARGE  LETTERS"  203 

men,  teaching  us  that,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly 
lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in  this 
present  world"  (i  Tim.  iv.  8;  Titus  ii.  ii,  12), 

2  Timothy. — It  was  a  mellow  and  softened  old  age. 
Lonely  so  far  as  dear  companions  were  concerned ;  full  of 
privations,  without  cloak,  or  books,  or  tendance  ;  shivering 
in  the  prison  ;  waiting  to  be  offered,  weigh  anchor,  and 
drop  down  the  stream.  He  wanted  once  more  to  see  his 
beloved  son  in  the  faith,  and  wrote  to  speed  his  steps.  It 
is  very  pathetic,  very  beautiful,  very  human.  But  the  ray 
of  an  indomitable  courage  and  faith  is  flung  across  the 
heaving  waters  :  he  has  kept  his  Lord's  deposit,  and  knows 
that  the  deposit  which  he  had  made  years  before  had  been 
no  less  safely  kept.  And  so  the  pen  is  taken  in  hand  for 
the  last  time.  A  few  tender  messages  are  added  as  a  post- 
script. And  with  large  letters  he  appends  the  closing  sen- 
tences, **The  Lord  be  with  thy  spirit.  Grace  be  with 
you." 

The  Epistles  of  Paul  resemble  stereotyped  plates,  from 
which  innumerable  copies  are  produced.  Who  but  God  can 
number  the  myriads  of  souls  that  have  come  in  contact  with 
his  words,  and  have  themselves  become  epistles,  ministered 
by  him,  ''written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the 
living  God."  And,  till  the  Lord  come,  edition  after  edi- 
tion of  character,  soul  life,  and  blessed  victorious  experience, 
shall  be  struck  off  from  these  blocks  of  holy  thinking 
which  we  owe  to  the  Apostle  Paul. 


A  List  of 


Rev.   F.  B.  Meyer's 
Works 


PUBLISHED   BY 


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Patjl :  A  Servant  of  Jestis  QirisU 
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"Of  the  many  Sacred  Biographies  I  have  written,  this  has 
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some  great  mountain  range,  the  more  his  character  is  traversed, 
the  more  it  grows  on  the  imagination." — From  the  Preface. 

"  Mr.  Meyer  holds  in  his  hand  the  key  to  his  reader's  heart 
and  conscience.  He  speaks  to  conscience  with  a  kind  of  author- 
it3^  which  it  is  not  easy  to  analyze  and  yet  harder  to  resist.  In 
this  volume  he  follows  Paul's  life  through  in  a  series  of  topics, 
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Independent, 

Saved  and  Kept* 

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as  he  reviews  the  past,  he  longs  to  utilize  the  lessons  and  warn- 
ings of  his  life  for  the  benefit  of  his  younger  brothers  and  sis-* 
ters  on  each  side  of  the  Atlantic."— 7"^^  Evangelist. 

PesLCCf  Perfect  Peace. 
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*'Though  the  book  is  a  little  one,  it  carries  much  more  con- 
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Cheer  for  Life's  Pilgrimage. 

Long  i6mo,  cloth,  50c. 

"This  little  book  is  one  of  the  author's  cheery  helps  for  the 
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of  the  world.  Would  that  Christians  had,  or  could  give,  more 
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tian  Observer. 

A  Castaway,  and  Other  Addresses. 

1 2mo,  paper,  1 5c. ;  cloth,  net  30c. 

"Contains  the  sermons  delivered  by  Mr.  Meyer  in  New  York, 
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to  this  country  last  winter  (Feb.  1897.)  They  treat  of  the  hin- 
^drances  to  spiritual  growth  and  power,  of  the  evil  of  the  natural 
heart,  so  hard  to  overcome,  of  the  only  way  of  curing  this  evil 
by  getting  Christ  into  the  heart,  of  the  work  of  Christ  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  the  possibilities  of  the  blessed  life  to 
which  the  writer  urgently  summons  bis  readers."— 714^  Sun- 
day  School  Times.  T 


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Thtough.  Fife  and  Flood, 

"  God's  purpose  running  through  our  lives,  often  leading 
•through  fire  and  flood,'  is  set  forth  in  these  pages.  The  au- 
ihor's  pungent  and  impressive  style  shapes  the  message  for 
encouragement  and  comfort."— 7"Ai?  Presbyterian, 


The  Gloriotts  Lor d# 

liblical  knowledge  and  e 
■:hman. 

Key  Words  of  the  Inner  Life. 


'  It  abounds  in  Biblical  knowledge  and  evangelical  earnest* 
IS." — The  Churchman. 


"Mr.  Meyer  writes  fluently  and  forcibly  of  the  deep  things 
of  God,  and  fosters  spiritual  hunger  while  he  feeds  it." — The 
N.   y.  Observer. 

Calvai-y  to  Pentecost. 

"All  Mr.  Meyer's  books  are  welcome,  but  none  more  than 
this.  It  is  rich  food  for  the  aspiring  Christian." —  The  Standard. 

The  Future  Tenses  of  the  Blessed  Life. 

"  Full  of  tender  comfort  and  helpful  suggestions."— T'-^^  /»* 
terior. 

The  Present  Tenses  of  the  Blessed  Life. 

*'  He  always  has  something  to  say  that  is  suggestive,  coiv 
stantly  casts  light  upon  the  Scripture."— TVi^  S.  S.  Thnes. 

Christian  Living. 

"  Full  of  rich,  ripe  thought  and  strength  and  encouragement 

,.jr  the  Christian  \\&2LXX.y —Christian  Work. 

The  Shepherd  Psalm. 

*■-  These  meditations  on  the  twenty-third  Psalm  are  earnest, 
devout,  practical."— 7%^  Evangelist, 


The  '^Blessed  Life''  Editions. 

The  following  have  been  issued  in  the  new  '*  Blessed  Life 
Series,"  i8mo,  cloth,  ink  stampings,  each  30  cents. 

The  Shepherd  Psahn* 

Christian  Living. 

The  Present  Tenses  of  the  Blessed  Life. 

The  Future  Tenses  of  the  Blessed  Life. 


Old  Testament  Heroes, 

l2mo,  cloth,  eight  volumes,  each  $i.oo. 

••  Mr.  Meyer  is  unsurpassed  in  recent  times  in  his  faculty  «h 
helpfully  and  interestingly  adapting  studies  of  Old  Testament 
characters  to  modern  needs.  His  work  does  not  consist  of 
mere  pious  moralizing,  but  it  is  the  product  of  a  man  evidently 
of  scholarly  habits  and  attainments,  and  in  close  and  practical 
touch  with  the  life  of  the  people  of  the  day,  and  with  the 
strongest  and  clearest  convictions  that  the  simple,  plain  gospel 
of  Christ,  the  divine  and  atoning  Saviour,  and  the  Bible  the 
very  word  of  God,  are  indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  the 
world." — The  United  Presbyterian. 

David :  Shepiier d^  Psalmist^  King, 

"  As  in  all  his  works,  he  has  developed  the  spiritual  and 
practical  lines,  so  that  his  book  is  not  merely  a  record  of 
events,  but  the  story  of  a  great  life,  the  reading  of  which  will 
be  stimulating  and  profitable." — The  Sunday  School  Times. 

Jeremiah:  Priest  and  Prophet, 
*'  It  is  at  once  a  biography,  an  interpretation,  and  a  terse  and 
practical  application    of  divine  truth  to  human  life.      It  is 
scholarly  but  not  pitched  on  too  high  a  key  of  learning  for  the 
common  reader." — The  Congregationalist. 

Joshua,  and  the  Land  of  Promise. 

•*  The  twenty  chapters  here  given  on  the  Book  of  Joshua  are 
so  many  lines  of  light  on  the  whole  period  and  its  main  charac- 
ters. The  great  leader  stands  out  in  relief,  and  his  relations  to 
the  age  are  traced  with  care  and  intelligence."— Zzow'j  Herald. 

Moses,  the  Servant  of  God. 

"The  author's  analysis  of  the  character  and  history  of 
Moses  is,  in  some  respects,  the  best  which  we  remember  to 
have  seen.  The  book  is  at  once  learned,  and  popular."— 7]4# 
Congregationalist. 

Abraham;  or.  The  Obedience  of  Faith. 

"  He  is  throughout  reverent  and  thoughtful,  and  will  point 
out  to  many  a  reader  unsuspected  truth  and  beauty  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures." — The  Watchman, 

Elijah,  and  the  Secret  of  His  Powef. 

••Good,  exceedingly  good.  Mr.  Meyer  is  a  great  gain  to  the 
armies  of  evangelical  truth,  for  his  tone,  spirit  and  aspirations 
are  all  of  a  fine  gospel  sort." — C.  H.  Spurgeon  in  Sword  and 
Trowel. 

Israel,  a  Prince  with  God. 

"  No  Christian  is  likely  to  read  the  volume  .  .  .  „  with- 
out being  wiser,  purer,  happier  and  more  devoted  to  his  Mas- 
ter. It  surpasses  any  book  we  have  seen  on  Jacob  and  his 
eventful  career." — The  Baptist  Magazine. 

Joseph;  Beloved— Hated — ^Exalted. 

•*  We  trust  this  welcome  volume  will  find  readers  in  all  ranks 
and  classes,  among  old  as  well  as  youn^,  and  will  perform  a 
blessed  ministry  of  help  and  guidance  \ct,  the  life  which  is  life 
iadee4."--7>5«  Christian. 


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